theRedhillAcademy newsletter June 2019

Message from the Head of School GCSEs and A Levels are finally here and many of our students are currently immersed in the on-going cycle of revision and examinations. Year 10 students sat the GCSE short course core RE paper this week, which gave them their first taste of a real exam. The Year 11s and 13s are now well into the GCSE and A Level final assessments. We have been really impressed with their commitment and resilience at what is clearly a challenging time in their lives. They have attended additional lessons, booster sessions and consumed huge amounts of flashcards and other materials to support their revision. They have made an excellent start, showing both a positive attitude and the sheer determination needed to do their best. They need to believe that they will come through the other side into a world of proms, a lazy summer holiday and then new and exciting pathways for next year. We wish them all the success that they deserve. As part of the essential preparations for the exams, we were determined to have a new building so that students did not have to sit any in the Leisure Centre. It is really exciting to announce that the contractors met the deadline and we now have a brand new building attached to the Post 16 Centre. It has movable interior walls which mean we can host up to sixty students for exams or turn it into 3 new classrooms which will be used for Post 16 lessons. It is a welcome addition to our facilities. Finally, it was such a privilege to present certificates at the recent Year 11 Commendation Evening. It seems like only yesterday that they joined Redhill and here they are now as confident and talented young adults who we are all very proud of. During the evening, students were rewarded for their outstanding academic achievement and positive contributions to the life of the school. They were also treated to a photographic record of their journey from Year 7 to Year 11 with a few embarrassing pictures thrown in for good measure. We just couldn’t resist it! Mr N Matthews - Head of School

www.theredhillacademy.org.uk www.twitter.com/redhillacademy [email protected] Plants Sale raises money for charity The Foundation Learning Group have completed a final project to complete their BTEC Vocational Studies course. The students were required to research and grow plants from cuttings and seeds, demonstrate a knowledge of propagation, health and safety and produce leaflets on how to look after plants. The group successfully grew basil, rosemary and sunflowers and then demonstrated business and numeracy skills by running a hugely popular plant stall at break-time, selling the plants to Redhill staff. This was the first time our students organised selling their products and the group raised a brilliant £25.30 which will be donated to their chosen charity Oxfam which is working around the world to fight poverty. We all feel encouraged to grow and sell even more next time. Mr M Johnson - SENCo Meet PC Ben Heath! Former student Ben Heath made Redhill proud last week as he attended his passing out parade at Police Headquarters. Ben was part of the first cohort who followed the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship completed over a period of three years. To qualify, Ben was an active member of the Police Cadets where he gained insight into different aspects of the job. Alongside this he clocked up many hours volunteering in a variety of different community settings, from a retirement home to in-class support in KS3 Geography lessons. He also wrote a lot of assignments which he reckons may amount to a word count that has more in common with a book! At times Ben found it difficult to balance this work alongside A Levels in the Sixth Form, as well as being a young carer to his parents, but he never lost sight of his dream to become a Police Officer. Redhill is delighted to see Ben reach his goal. As Mr Matthews has been quoted as saying, “If ever anyone was born to do something!” As a team of staff who have helped him along the way it really does underline the reasons why we work hard for and with our students here at Redhill. Ben himself told me he wanted to say that success comes from ‘…your work ethic, pushing yourself to your limits and being able to see the positives in what you are doing, no matter how small.’ Ben is now very much looking forward to serving the community in his new role. He tells me that he has already been working on General Response shifts at Byron House in the City Centre where he gets to go out on ‘blue light’ runs. He will also continue to train on the job, gaining further insight into departments such as CID and Intelligence, as well as working around 54 hours a week. If you are interested in the career path that Ben has taken, you can gain further information from our Careers Officer Mrs Blyth. Ben also suggests that voluntary work can benefit you in developing skills such as understanding health & safety, conflict management, teamwork and decision-making. We wish Ben all the best in his future career and hope that he might help inspire future Redhill students to follow their career aspirations. Mrs H Morris Ex-Sixth Form Tutor of PC Ben Heath ‘If you build it…’ We are really proud of the new Sixth Form extension which was completed on the 13th May 2019 and is now being used for A-Level and GCSE exams. The building has two movable walls which convert the three classrooms into one large space, perfect for examinations. The classrooms have extra thick insulation and climate control to ensure that the space is cool in the summer and warm in winter. In addition, they are equipped with LED lighting and double glazing so that they are energy efficient too. The first part of the build started in February half term, with the foundations being laid ready for the rest of the building to be constructed over the Easter holiday. This kept disruption of school life to the bare minimum. It is great to know that we now have three additional classroom spaces ready for our Sixth Form students in September. Mr J Warren - Operations Manager Feeder Primary School Vocal Workshop and Performance On Wednesday 1st May 2019 around 90 students from three of our feeder primary schools, , Arnold Mill and Robert Mellors, spent the afternoon at The Redhill . During the afternoon, all students took part in a two-hour vocal workshop with members of The Choir and Mrs Thomas. The workshop was an opportunity for the students, who were mostly in Year 6, to meet and perform together in preparation for some of them starting here in September. The workshop led to a one hour afternoon performance in The Redhill Academy Main Hall. The hall was filled with parents who saw a variety of performances featuring all three schools together followed by an individual performance from each school. The concert finished with a vocal performance of “The Greatest Show” from “The Greatest Showman”. The event was a huge success and all students who were involved sang their hearts out. Mrs Y Thomas – Head of Music Redhill Basketball It was a great year for Basketball at The Redhill Academy, as participation levels were at an all- time high through each year group with around 50 students attending weekly after school sessions. The Year 7 team entered into The Junior NBA competition where they made it to the first round of the play-offs. The Year 8 and 9 teams were runner up in the Gedling Schools competition and the Year 10 and 11 team played their first ever competitive Basketball match and finished the season with an impressive victory over The Free School. Next year we hope to improve on the sporting success and continue to promote Basketball to all Years, as participation in this popular sport keeps growing. Mr M Tibbs – PE teacher Porto Football Development Tour 2019

During the Easter holidays, 59 Redhill Year 9 and Year 10 students accompanied by a further 60 students from partnering Trust Academies - Carlton, Hall Park and South Notts - travelled to Portugal on a football development tour. This was the fifth time the academy has run the trip but the first as a combined Trust tour and again it lived up to its expectations. Porto Football Club hosted the students for the 5 days, providing them with 10 hours of intense Portuguese-style football training sessions as well as 7 fixtures vs the Porto Dragon Force academy with special shout-out to Josh Shipley- Leverton, who netted a perfectly executed hat-trick during his squad’s fixture vs the Portuguese opposition. Highlights of the tour included a behind the scenes tour of Porto’s 51,000 seater Estádio do Dragão stadium, witnessing Porto play in a Primeria Liga fixture at home to Boavista which resulted in a 2-0 victory for FC Porto as well as a tour around Porto City Centre whilst being bathed in sunshine. The students trained hard throughout their sessions, ate well at the 4-star Axis Ofir Hotel and created new friendships with fellow Trust students. Ultimately the students got the taste of what being a professional footballer was like throughout the trip. Keep your eyes peeled, as plans are already being drawn up for what promises to be another exciting 2021 Football Development Tour. PE Department

Comic Relief On Friday 15th March, staff and students alike contributed towards the 2019 Comic Relief appeal. By hosting a whole school non-uniform day, cake sales and the Sixth Form students wearing their pyjamas for the day, we managed to raise a grand total of £1,222.15. Thank you to all staff, students and parents who made contributions towards the total. Great Redhill Bake-Off Between Easter and May half term we saw the return of the Great Redhill Bake-Off in our Food department. A group of KS3 students were set a product or theme each week and all produced some wonderful results. The theme that was given to our four finalists was ‘Tropical’. Our four finalists were: Abigail Cardwell, Zac Hall, Archie Latter and Jack Taylor. After some very tense judging the star baker for 2019 went to Abigail Cardwell for her Tropical cupcakes. All the students who took part should be extremely proud of themselves. Mrs L Hall, Miss R Sheppard Food department Learning Resource Centre News Our Year 7 students all take part in the Accelerated Reader Scheme; this means that they spend some time in the Library every week reading, taking quizzes on books they have finished and working with staff to develop their reading skills further. For every quiz the student passes, the number of words they have read is recorded. From September 2019 until 20th May 2019 the Year 7 students have passed 1,843 quizzes and read 72,499,462 words between them. Thirteen students have read over one million words each. The top three are: Tom Hunter 6,274,071 words, Thomas Barnaby 2,809,378 words Penelope Davies-Bright 2,231,749 words Congratulations to all the students for their hard work and achievements so far. Mrs K Hilditch - Librarian

Overdue or missing books from the LRC

There is a number of books that are overdue or have disappeared from the Library. These tend to be from popular series such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Tom Gates, Harry Potter and Dork Diaries to name just a few. Please could I ask you to encourage your child/children to check at school and home if they have any books from the Library that need to be returned? Fines are not charged for overdue books but it would be great if these and any missing books could be returned so that they are available for other students to borrow. Students can simply place books in the returned book box in the Library. Thank you in advance for your help with this. Mrs K Hilditch - Librarian Raising the Grade Maths Conference A group of 16 Year 11 students spent the day at Nottingham Trent University preparing for their upcoming Maths exams. All students represented the Academy well. A big well done to Emily Morley and Chloe Duriez who were chosen by teachers from other schools to have participated exceptionally well. Mr P Noble – Faculty Leader Maths U14 Girls South Notts Cup Final The U14 Girls have had a phenomenal season in the county cup seeing them gain victories against Arnold Hill, Magnus CofE Academy, School and . On Wednesday 1st May the girls faced in the South Notts U14 Girls Final. The girls performed and showed they were worthy of being in the final. Bailee Manners scored an early goal and went on to score 6 in total throughout the game. Sommer Smith scored a penalty and then went on to score a hat trick. Paige Haywood scored a brilliant top corner goal and Olivia Lowe scored our 11th goal of the game. The final score was 11-3 with a remarkable performance from the whole team. The girls were outstanding and have proved their determination and resilience throughout the entire season. Well done girls! Mr S Peters – PE department Academic Achievements June 2019 Science For fantastic attitude and effort: Year 8: Amaia Steele For outstanding contribution and effort in class: Year 9: Dayle Sampson For outstanding effort and attitude towards lessons and independent work: Year 9: Ashleigh Ronald

English For consistent outstanding effort and creativity in English: Year 8: Ashleigh Skelham For excellent English Language mock exam, particularly with regards to perceptive language analysis: Year 10: Alannah Mylechreest

Health and Social Care For excellent effort when writing coursework: Year 9: Charley Goodman, Aliyah Ireland and Jessica Lawrence For amazing effort and resilience when writing coursework: Year 10: Jessica and Nicole Young For working incredibly hard this year and I am so proud of the results they have achieved: Every student in Year 11A and 11C Health and Social Care

Business “Good Luck” to the Year 11 Class of 2019, the entrepreneurs of the future: Owen Ashwell, Dastan Bakhtyari, Abigail Barrett, Joseph Black, Isobel Bray, Aaliyah Byrne, Thomas Dalton, Bethany Ingram, Hasan Javed, Aaliyah Khan, Malachy Morrissey, Jacob Onions, Wesley Reece, Kieran Seymour, Daisy Shacklock, Jasmin Shelley, Angel Stanfield, Owen Tobin, Caitlin Whittle SCHOOL CALENDAR JUNE Week 2 Monday 10 Year 10 MFL Mock Speaking Exams (until 14.06.19) Year 11 Leavers Assembly Tuesday 11 Wednesday 12 3.15pm Inter-House – The Redhill Quiz Thursday 13 Year 9 Drama Primary Visits Friday 14 Trip: Year 9 WW1 Battlefields (until 17.06.19) Saturday 15 Arnold Carnival, Arnot Hill Park

Week 1 Monday 17 Year 7 Assessment Week Year 12 Exams (until 27.06.19) Year 9 Mock Practical Food Exams (until 21.06.19) Tuesday 18 Wednesday 19 Year 8 Progress Report 3 issued 4-7pm Redfest Thursday 20 Friday 21 Year 9 Exams (until 02.07.19) Year 10 Mentoring (until 27.6.19)

Week 2 Monday 24 Year 8 Review Week Year 12 Exams (until 27.06.19) Year 10 Food practical exams (until 02.07.19) Tuesday 25 Gedling Area Athletics – Year 7 Year and 8 3.15pm KS3 Inter- House Boys’ Rounders Wednesday 26 3.15pm KS3 Inter-House Girls’ Rounders Thursday 27 School closes at 2.05pm Year 8 Review Friday 28 JOINT TRUST INSET DAY 7pm Year 11 Prom Saturday 29 Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Qualifying Expedition (until 30.06.19)

JULY Week 1 Monday 1 INSET DAY Tuesday 2 3pm-6pm Art Show 7pm Zorba Induction Evening Wednesday 3 7pm Annual Sports Awards Year 6 Induction Day for Students Thursday 4 Year 12 Next Steps Conference 7pm Year 6 Induction Evening for Parents and Students Friday 5 Year 12 Next Steps Conference Arts Award Moderation 7pm Year 13 Leavers’ Party

Week 2 Monday 8 Year 12 Work Experience week 7pm Knight House Commendation Evening Tuesday 9 Vaccinations mop up session Year 7 Progress Report 2 issued 7pm Lawrence House Commendation Evening Wednesday 10 3.15pm KS3 Inter-House – Dodgeball 4pm Year 7 Parents’ Evening Thursday 11 7pm Annual Summer Concert Friday 12 French Trip (until 15.07.19)

Week 1 Monday 15 Year 12 Mock Results Day (with Progress Report 4 issued) Trip: Year 7 English visits to Stratford (3 days this week tbc) Year 7 Arts Day Tuesday 16 7pm Green House Commendation Evening Wednesday 17 Year 10 Progress Report 4 issued 7pm Smith House Commendation Evening KS4 Arts Day Thursday 18 Year 12 Induction Day 1 7pm Africanus House Commendation Evening KS4 Arts Day Friday 19 Year 12 Induction Day 2

Week 2 Monday 22 Year 10 Post 16 Taster Day Tuesday 23 Year 9 Progress Report 3 issued Trip: Alton Towers Attendance Reward Wednesday 24 END OF SUMMER TERM August Thursday 15 A2 / AS Results day

Thursday 22 GCSE Results day