Autumn 2013

Turkish Exchange

OUTSTANDING GCSE results …yet again! REWARDS MILES FOR MACMILLAN We really have had a tremendous start to the new academic year.

In August, students truly did themselves, their parents, staff and school proud when they achieved an outstanding set of results, with the number of students achieving 5 or more A* - C grades remaining at a consistently high 93%. Sustaining and building upon the school’s reputation for exceptionally high standards, this year’s cohort delivered fantastic results, with the number of students achieving at least 8 A*s and As DOUBLING. 98% of students celebrated achieving at least 5 GCSE passes and all 100% of students achieved at least 1 A* - C grade. I am so proud of everyone for what they have achieved; they thoroughly deserve these outstanding results.

In September, we welcomed a new cohort of Year 7 students, who have settled in fantastically well and have already enjoyed their first trip away from home, when they embarked on a weekend of adventures at The Colomendy Centre, North . As the enters its second year, I can genuinely say I am delighted with the impact it has had on student interaction across all year groups and the ‘family feel’ it has created throughout the school.

12 months ago we announced that we had been successful in our application to develop a Sixth Form here at The Marches and we were delighted to welcome our first ever Sixth Formers through the doors, at the start of the Autumn Term. They have also settled in remarkably well and taken the step up to advanced level study well and truly in their stride.

As I write this, I am delighted to report some of the school’s most recent news, hot off the press. We have just been informed that we have won the most improved attendance award in . Attendance at the school is very good; however, what this award proves is that improvements can always be made and, in this case, the improvement was the most significant across Shropshire. The team has worked tirelessly to ensure everyone is aware of the impact that having just one day off school can have on student progress. The ‘attendance matters’ campaign has clearly had a significant impact and this is a great achievement. Our excellent attendance figures clearly demonstrate the commitment of our parents, the professionalism of our staff and are a good indicator of the appetite of our young people for learning.

The popularity of The Marches is consistently on the rise and the recent Open Evening was a clear indicator of this. Over 300 prospective students and their families attended the event and enjoyed a range of interactive activities and demonstrations. I would like to thank all who were involved in making the event a success, including the number of students who helped throughout the duration of the evening.

As you read this Autumn edition of the newsletter, I am sure you will agree that it has been a busy half term, packed full of innovative learning experiences to engage students both inside and outside of the classroom. Here’s to another fantastic year at The Marches; supporting students to achieve their personal best, whist challenging them to explore the wonderful opportunities available to them in the 21st Century. Sarah Longville Headteacher

The Marches School Morda Road, , Shropshire, SY11 2AR

T. 01691 664400 E. [email protected] W. www.marchesschool.co.uk COLOMENDY YEAR 7 WEEKEND! TRANSITION 01

Eleven members of staff and 110 Year 7 students from recently departed Oswestry and headed off to North Wales for a weekend of activities at the Colomendy Centre, near Mold. This annual trip provides a rewarding experience for a large proportion of Year 7 students and is instrumental in laying the foundation for a positive ethos in the year group as a whole. The weekend was packed full of multi-activity challenges to allow students to mix and initiate new friendships, as well as develop their team building and leadership skills. The transition from Primary to Secondary School is a milestone in young people’s lives and we do all that we can to ensure this is a smooth and enjoyable process. The trip to the Colomendy Centre in North Wales forms a crucial part of this journey and is designed to help Year 7 students develop new friendships, as well as enhance their skills. Students challenged each other, as well as themselves, on the aerial trekking course and worked in teams to complete a number of tasks. The students had great fun and have come back with some lovely memories.

Mr Hall, Transition Director

PD Day Term Dates 2013/14

Autumn Term Thank you to everyone who came along and Monday 24th February bought our lovely cakes. We raised £234.80. Autumn Half Term Wednesday 4th September - Friday 20th December Thank you to all of those who donated cakes Spring Term Monday 28th October - Friday 1st November and tray bakes – they looked and tasted Spring Half Term amazing! Thank you also to everyone who Monday 6th January - Friday 11th April helped set up and serve, and to Mrs Lockett Summer Term Monday 17th February - Friday 21st for the tea and coffee! February Monday 28 Summer Half Term th Mrs Curran, Personnel Assistant April - Thursday 17 Monday 26 th July th Friday 30 May (Bank Holiday) - th May DONATION TO ESUK

Students at The Marches School were delighted to present a cheque for £387.13 to Mr Karl Evans from Epilepsy Sucks, following a non- uniform day held at FOR the end of the summer term.

Students from Whittaker house chose to allocate funds to Epilepsy Sucks during their fundraising half term. The non- On Saturday 28th September, a number of staff from The Marches School unform day raised an impressive walked ‘Miles For Macmillan’ by taking on the challenge of scaling Snowdon. In £387.13 and students were delighted to July, the school raised an impressive £1041 for Macmillan Cancer Support, after pass on a cheque to charity hosting a leaving event for long serving member of staff, Ian Sykes. On representative Mr Karl Evans, who is Saturday 28th, staff, friends and family continued to add to this donation, raising also a Teaching Assistant at the school. an impressive £1450.

Mr Evans commented, “The seizure Accompanied by family and friends, colleagues from The pillows supplied by ESUK are £50 each Marches School set off from base at 5.00am, reaching the so this generous donation from The summit by late morning. Marches School will enable 8 pillows to be purchased. This means there will now I am delighted so many people took part to raise money for be 8 families who can sleep better at such a worthy cause. It was a challenge, as a number of night. We are hugely grateful to The people who took part had never walked up Snowdon before, Marches School for supporting ESUK.” but we all thoroughly enjoyed it. Dan Rowland walked for the British Heart Foundation and raised £250. A big thank you to Mr Dyke, Whittaker House Leader everyone who sponsored us. Mrs White, Office Manager www.marchesschool.co.uk 02

Bloomin’ Marches! In July, Margaret Thrower from the ‘Oswestry in Bloom’ Committee visited The Marches School to judge their entries in two of this year’s competition categories. The results were announced on Saturday 24th August and staff and students at The Marches were delighted to hear that they had been awarded prizes in both categories entered.

Students were delighted to receive the Silver Award in the ‘Outstanding work by Young People’ category. This award is recognition for the student’s hard work creating a welcoming, colourful relaxation area for students to enjoy and benefit from. Supported by teaching assistants, the young people have created a relaxing, tranquil space with colourful wall paintings, plants and seating areas. The area is maintained by students and used regularly by people throughout the school.

This was, however, not the only prize the school was celebrating as they were also delighted to be presented with a Silver Award in the ‘Best Kept School’ category. Headteacher, Sarah Longville, commented, “The Site Staff at the school work tirelessly all year round to ensure that the students are educated in a clean and inspiring environment. We are delighted to receive both of these awards as testament to the hard work and commitment of students and staff at The Marches School. A big ‘well done’ to all involved.” TURKISH EXHANGE 2013 As part of a cultural exchange, a group of Turkish students from Istanbul came to live with us for a week. We had already contacted our exchange partners via email, but we were still apprehensive when we first met them! The aim of the trip was to further their knowledge of English and to make new friends.

On Monday, the students experienced a normal “Marches” school day. Our visitors enjoyed the day but found the school very small. In the evening they tasted new foods and enjoyed spending time with their host family.

Tuesday’s activity was a trip to the historic Ironbridge Gorge and the Victorian town, Blists Hill. The exchange students found the old town interesting and had a great time. They especially enjoyed the fair rides and sweet shop!

On Wednesday we went to Conwy castle; it was a long drive but worth it as we explored the fort (in the typical British weather) and learnt about its historic past. After, we visited the Welsh town of Llandudno and had a proper British lunch of fish ‘n’ chips while the seagulls attacked from above!

We went to school as usual on Thursday and took part in the European Day of Languages. After school we enjoyed a multinational disco. The exchange students loved it and we all had a great time. The week had flown by and by Friday we were firm friends. We visited Chester and were shown the ruins of the old town and the amphitheatre by a Roman soldier. Our guide had to admit that Roman Chester was relatively modern when compared to Turkey. Once the tour had finished we split into groups and went shopping around Chester. The Turkish exchange students bought lots of souvenirs and had lots of fun. On Saturday we had a free day with our exchange students and enjoyed entertaining our foreign friends.

On Sunday at 7:20am the exchange students left for Manchester for their flight home.

We are looking forward to visiting them next spring. By James Chapman, Year 8

www.marchesschool.co.uk NEWS FROM… 03

Marches Training, based at The Marches School in Oswestry, is pleased to welcome a new cohort of Trainee Teachers this term. The school has a long history of successfully training new teachers, in partnership with surrounding universities. This year, the school is pleased to be working with Edgehill University and the University of Chester on the new government teacher training initiative, School Direct.

Enrolled on the School Direct secondary programme are Dr Emma Wilson - Science, Emma Pritchard - Music, Chris Cathrall - PE, Vikki Vicars - History and Liz Deane – English. The Marches is also working with its primary partner schools; Trefonen, Woodside, The Meadows, Morda and Whittington, to host four primary trainee teachers through School Direct: Rosemary Ward, Antony Tibbetts, Sarah- Jane Howard and Andrea Lathwell.

School Direct is exactly what schools have asked for; more influence and control over the way teachers are trained. It is a way of ensuring that newly qualified teachers deliver great lessons in schools. Schools work with a teacher training provider of their choice, select and recruit the trainees and shape their training to suit. School Direct is a way of schools growing their own teachers and future leaders; it can make a key contribution to school improvement strategy and help the continuing professional development of staff.

In addition to the School Direct cohort, the school is also hosting PGCE students through Aberystwyth University, Hibernia College UK and Chester University.

Hibernia College UK is a new partnership for 2013. Hibernia have designed a programme which encourages trainee teachers who do not have the appropriate degree to teach the subject that they aspire to. A PGCE course usually demands that a student has a degree in the subject that they wish to teach. Russell Thomas, Professional Mentor commented, “This is an innovative programme which enables talented teachers of the future to study over a longer period and gain vast subject knowledge, in an area in which they do not have a degree. “

If anyone would like to discuss teacher training with The Marches, please contact Kate Aspinall on 01691 664455 or visit www.marchestraining.co.uk

Mrs Aspinall, Business Development Officer, Marches Training INTERNATIONAL DAY OF LANGUAGES

Year 7 students completed a ‘Why learn a language’ poster as a homework project, the winners of which were invited to the Euro disco in the gym. This year, the event coincided with the Turkish visitors who also attended the disco with their partners. Many thanks to Mr Harvey for providing the disco. Year 8 students completed a Logo design and there was a Tutor quiz in session 6.

A number of students attended the non-uniform day in International dress. Money raised from the non- uniform day will go towards rewards for students, Macmillan Cancer Support and The Red Cross. Miss Mulla

If you would like to advertise in the Christmas edition of our newsletter, please email [email protected] www.marchesschool.co.uk 04 SAFER SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP

At the beginning of the Autumn Term, staff and students welcomed a new member to the team – PCSO (Police Community Support Officer) Mr Dave Bryant. His role at the school is focused on assisting students to become confident in contributing to the community in which they live.

The Safer Schools Partnership, developed from the successful work observed in American schools, is focused around Youth Engagement and designed to support the five outcomes of ‘Every Child Matters’. PCSO Dave Bryant has been a PCSO since Working with young people to help promote their safety and positive 2003 and is the longest serving PCSO in Shropshire. He has development within local communities is a priority for the police experience of working in and ; however, this will and our partner agencies. Having direct contact in school through be his first post in Oswestry. the Safer Schools Partnership and by working closely with staff, will help to build a good rapport based on trust and understanding." Fully trained in Internet Safety and Online Protection, Mr Bryant is based at the school and, amongst a range of duties, will also deliver The role of the PCSO will involve working with the local community lessons to students on safer internet use, ensuring young people team to develop these links. The project ultimately aims to support are fully aware of the laws and are equipped with the tools to remain the raising of young people’s standards of achievement and enable safe online in the 21st Century. them to achieve their full potential in life.

The Safer Schools Partnership is designed to build on the existing Mrs Pearson, Deputy Headteacher partnerships with current schools and with new schools across the area. The project will aim to improve students’ motivation for The first walk of the new school year - The new attending and achieving well at school, building trust and developing Bronze intake… and enhancing the relationships between school, police and the community.

Chief Inspector Paul Moxley, of West Mercia Police commented, "As part of our Safer Neighbourhood commitments, we are really pleased to have this opportunity to provide a dedicated PCSO for the Marches School. It will make a real difference in helping us to work with young people in the community. Duke of Edinburgh’s Award It was the best of summers for Award activities outdoors, culminating for Bronze (Year 10) in a successful final expedition across Shropshire’s Long Mynd. 39 participants completed the walk and a night in tents (and they survived their own cooking) to pass the assessment with flying Footfall colours. In 2011 Footfall, a community partnership who aim to ‘add creativity By mid July temperatures were soaring, and so were the to empty spaces’, expanded this spirits of Year 11 Silver candidates as they headed for the notion and commissioned their first Peak National Park in Derbyshire. They were to face long Mural, ‘New Tracks’ on New Street, walks across some of England’s most beautiful countryside, Oswestry. With the aim being to carrying all they needed to survive for three days. Exploring make an empty wall space enticing, different routes through an unfamiliar limestone landscape, with interesting and eye-catching, the first little shade from the burning sun, groups showed evidence of mural has proved to be a big hit with train enthusiasts the teamwork that is the hallmark of a successful expedition. across the country and has turned what was an And the assessor was impressed by the imaginative ways in uninspiring blank wall into a masterpiece showcasing which reports were presented when the expedition concluded at Oswestry’s heritage. The popularity of our partner D of E unit, Hope Valley College. this first project has thus led to the creation of Footfall’s second mural: So does it all go quiet until next summer? Not at all! A full ‘Great Expectation’. Bronze and Silver training and activities programme runs through autumn and winter to include day and night walks, The official unveilling of the Mural took th residentials (but not camping, which must wait till next spring) place on Saturday 12 October, with and one-off special activities. students from The Marches School and Walford and Anything else? Yes indeed. For sixth-formers, there is the helping with the event. A big thank you launch of the Gold Award and the prospect of meeting a to the students who gave up their member of the Royal Family at its presentation. Saturday to help and also to Miss Metcalfe and Miss Trickett for making Mr Braddock the ‘footfall’ cakes. www.marchesschool.co.uk Miss Gregory SPORT NEWS

UK SCHOOL GAMES 05 A Year 11 student at The Marches School, currently ranked Number 1 in Shot and Discus in the North West of England, has recently represented the school at the Sainsbury’s UK School Games in Sheffield.

Emily Ball travelled up to the National competition and attended the Opening Ceremony, Year 10 student, Connor before the Games started on the Saturday, with discus, Emily’s event, taking place on Beardmore, is delighted to have the Sunday. been selected by England Hockey as goalkeeper for the Under 15s Competing against Year 11 and 12 students in the Under 17 Category, overall, Emily HIPAC (High Performance finished a highly commendable 5th in the competition, achieving 2nd place in her school Development Camp). The 14 year year. old, who plays as a goalkeeper for both Cannock and Wrexham, will As a result of her Number 1 ranking in both Shot and Discus, Emily qualified for both attend Leeds University with events in North West of England, but could only compete in one event at the Games, England Hockey during half term. therefore, choosing Discus. The Under 15 HIPAC High Emily Ball commented, “It was an experience I will never forget and I had lots of fun.” Performance Development Course offers specialist training and preparation for the under 16 squad. The HIPAC courses are held annually and are for players in the under 15 and COUNTY FOOTBALL under 17 age groups who have been selected or squads from Junior Three Year 9 footballers from The Marches School were recently selected to Regional Performance Centre Tier represent Shropshire Schools in their opening fixture of the season at One activity. . Having gone through a rigorous selection process over the past few months, the boys progressed through, along with 15 other talented Connor’s dad, Tim Beardmore, footballers from across the county. All 3 played a pivotal part in the 2-0 victory commented, “This is the highest over their private school counterparts, Shrewsbury School. accolade he could achieve for his age in hockey. He has been working Curtis Weetman, David Ogden and Jordan Dean from The Marches School towards it for the past 8 months, with represented Shropshire U14 football on 25th September at Shrewsbury School. This many rigorous assessment and was their first game of the season and the boys all performed well in a competitive qualification rounds”. game. Shropshire won the match 2-0. Connor added, “There is a 3 day The boys will now look forward to representing course for the Under 15s HIPAC at Shropshire against schools from , Easter and I’m really looking forward Staffordshire and the West Midlands over the to it!” forthcoming months.

The boys have worked hard to get to this point and they thoroughly deserve their chance. As a school we are delighted to have a higher representation within county football this year; both myself and Mr Dyke are optimistic that we can replicate our success with last year's team, with this new group of players. For all the Mr Jones latest sport news and results, please visit GIRLS P.E. ROUND UP… the school website. HOCKEY On Wednesday 2nd October The Marches Under 16 girls took on on their new Astro-Turf pitch, in their first fixture of the year. We were missing some key under 16 players for this game and girls from the younger years luckily stepped in to ensure we had a full team, including some new Goalkeepers! Unfortunately, the older opposition was much stronger and we left defeated 4-0, but the Marches girls showed great determination and teamwork for a side that had never played together before. NETBALL On Monday 7th October the Year 9 team entered the Shropshire Schools Under 14 tournament hosted by Shrewsbury High School. The team put on a good show with a slick warm-up organised by themselves, their performance was fantastic beating Thomas Adams and drawing with Idsall; unfortunately they were beaten by both Corbet and Priory who went on to come 1st and 2nd overall in the Plate competition, leaving us in 3rd place.

Mrs McGill www.marchesschool.co.uk 06 HOUSE NEWS

MARCHING MARCHES

Following on from the Marches Marching event, students in total managed to raise a staggering £3044.72 in sponsorship. The breakdown of donations from each house was as follows:

Whittaker - £367.80 Stephens - £742.10 Bonington - £426.30 Mallory - £907.97 Hargreaves - £600.55

STEPHENS HOUSE

Stephens House decided to donate to 2 charities. The first being the Bone Cancer Appeal at RJAH. Gwillym Owen from the appeal came to Stephens assembly on Tuesday 24th September to collect the donation of £371.05. He spoke warmly to the students about the appeal and thanked them for their effort. The other £371.05 was donated to Cancer Research UK. Each charity has sent a letter of thanks to the students, which is on display in the Stephens House noticeboard. EUROPEAN DAY OF LANGUAGES

Following the successful noticeboard competition last year, the MFL department once again set the challenge to form groups to create a noticeboard to reflect on the languages they spoke on holidays. Each house selected a winner The MFL department then had the difficult job to rank the house winners but finally agreed on the following positions: 1ST Bonington GN, 2ND Hargreaves SC/LB, 3RD Whittaker RLP, 4TH Stephens JA, 5TH Mallory TB QUIZTASTIC

The students brains were racked as soon as they got back from the holidays in the first house event of the year! Form groups from all five houses aimed to record as many correct answers as possible during session 6 - gaining as many points as possible for their house! Hargreaves showed that they mean business this year and claimed top spot, closely followed by the green army of Mallory. Whittaker and Stephens took 3rd and 4th place respectively whilst Bonington held up the rest in 5th place.

CHAMPIONS EVENT

Stephens, the winning house in 2012/13, won a BBQ with food kindly donated by the Victoria Road Co-Op. Around 300 staff and students attended the BBQ and thoroughly enjoyed their ‘just rewards’. Emily Ball, Head Girl and House Captain of Stephens commented, “I am really enjoying the House System and it has proved great for getting everyone involved and taking part.” TUG OF WAR The first Marches tug of war competition has been held over the autumn term. The competition was keenly fought, with some impressive bouts were the rope was subjected to a lot of force. The final bout was Mallory v Whittaker with the winner being crowned Tug of war champions. Mallory house triumphed without losing a single leg in the whole competition. Well done to all the participants and spectators who came along at lunchtime to support their house.

Mallory 1st, Whittaker 2nd, Bonington 3rd, Stephens 4th , Hargreaves 5th YEAR 7 FOOBALL COMPETITION The second annual year 7 football competiton was held on the astro turf as part of our showcase for open evening. The standard of play was excellent with all the houses being represented. The most impressive feature of the night was the spirit of the games and the etiquette, respect and sportsmanship showN throughout. The competition was won by Stephens, who were unbeaten on the night and did not conceed a single goal. Mallory finished in second with Whittaker third, Bonington fourth and Hargreaves in www.marchesschool.co.uk fifth place. Well done to all the boys who represented their house. REWARDS 07 Students are awarded reward points each week for maintaining a smart uniform and having 100% attendance. They are also awarded bonus points for producing outstanding pieces of work and achieving above and beyond their targets. Reward events and prizes in the summer term included Go Karting, Paintballing, a visit from an Ice Cream Van, Alton Towers Trip, Governor Award and lunch with the Headteacher.

FREE INTERNATIONAL TRIP The Comenius project is running! We need 16 students from Years 8 and up to take part in designing your perfect "EuroSchool." INTERNATIONAL NEWS Calling all skiers, boarders and ROMANIA EXPEDITION…UPDATE snowballers! You can take part in a Winter An Adele Tribute night was held at The Wynnstay Hotel to raise funds for the Sports Day in Austria and have fun in the Expedition. It was a fantastic evening, raising lots of money for the Romania group snow like you have never experienced before! and thank you to Joe Evans (Year 11), his parents and the Wynnstay for organising Or you could experience life in Holland and it. all things orange. You will meet students from all over Europe and do not worry they won't DUTCH EXCHANGE make you wear clogs! Following the success of the last Dutch Exchange, we are now looking for students to take part again next year, in April 2014. If you are interested, please let me know. There will also be a chance to eat meatballs in Sweden and share the experiences of Mrs Griffiths Polish students in their homeland.

This opportunity is COMPLETELY FREE and one not to miss out on! Letters will be emailed CE! home soon, please return them ASAP to Mrs ! DAN Griffiths (International Co-ordinator) in H9. SING NOW ! Do not miss out! ACT Mrs Griffiths The original, largest and still the best network of performing arts schools in the world.

Stagecoach Shrewsbury & Oswestry are now taking bookings Call Debbie Glenn on: 01691 718 110 THEATRE [email protected] TRIP www.stagecoach.co.uk/shrewsbury On Tuesday the 8th October we took 16 staff and pupils to Theatre Severn to see Motionhouse one of the UK’s leading dance companies and the new piece Broken. The piece was fantastic and we even got to meet one of the dancers Danny Connor and the Artistic director of the company. Students were a credit to the school and even got an autograph. Mrs Cooke www.marchesschool.co.uk Young 01 Enterprise By Mr Harris

Six Year 12 students from The Marches Sixth Form are now in the initial stages of developing their business model for the 2013/14 Young Enterprise competition. Young Enterprise is the UK's largest business and enterprise education charity. Every year they help 250,000 young people learn about business and the world of work in the classroom under the guidance of volunteers from 3,500 companies. Henry Powell, Jordan Ashley, Eleanor Budgen- Strawbridge, Natalie Rose, Imogen Hawkes and Charlie Woolhouse are representing the Sixth Form in this year’s Young Enterprise Company Programme The Marches Gold D of E programme kicked-off with a trip by and, as the school’s first Sixth Form cohort, they are twelve Sixth Form students to Kentmere in the Lake District. the first ever Marches students to enter into the Year The weekend involved intensive map reading and compass- 12 category. based navigation. The teams got used to the more rugged and We have been taking part in this programme for 5 demanding terrain of the Lakes in preparation for their 5 day years now and it is a valuable part of our extra- practice and qualifying expeditions there next year. curricular enrichment programme. We are really excited about entering a team into the post-16 category this year and are delighted to have some local companies on board to support the students with their business plan and product. Last year, the Year 10 Young Enterprise students were extremely fortunate to receive the support of Heather Noble, owner of Salt Solutions, a specialist coaching, training and mentoring agency and are delighted Heather has agreed to support both the Year 10 and Year 12 groups this year. Heather mentors the students on a weekly basis and supports the students to produce their promotional material and put together presentations. This year, the students are extremely fortunate to also have the support of The British Ironwork Centre. Based in Aston, The British Ironwork Centre already have strong links with the school through projects such as the ‘Safari Tail’ and this is another example of how partnerships between businesses and the school can have a positive impact on the student experience. The Young Enterprise Group recently visited The British Ironwork Centre to explore ideas and the team there are delighted to be supporting the students with their new business venture. Benjamin Knowles, Operations Director has requested that the students go away and consider the ideas, and to return within the shortest time to review their conclusions and get the project underway. He added, "It’s an exciting and challenging project and we are delighted to be able to offer our support and guidance". Henry Powell, MD of the newly formed company added, “We now have some good foundations in place and things are looking really promising. We are very thankful to The British Ironwork Centre and Salt Solutions for their support and we look forward to working closely with them over the coming months.” On Thursday 5th September, the school’s FIRST EVER Sixth Formers began lessons at The Marches School. This is an extremely exciting development for the school and we are delighted to now have the opportunity to further nurture our students through their post-16 education. This year’s excellent results were the platform for students to continue their educational careers in the Sixth Form. These high achieving students have a wealth of talent and proven academic ability and we are very excited about the next steps for these students and supporting them as they prepare for University and future success.

The Sixth Form offers a full range of academic A-Levels and an extensive enrichment programme to ensure students are equipped with a broad range of knowledge and skills, as they prepare for their progression onto University and beyond. Post-16 study is not just about succeeding in exams, it is about establishing yourself as an independent learner with a range of transferable skills. A new member of staff joined the Sixth Form Team this term, Charlotte Revill, Sixth Form Student Support Coordinator. Her post is purely dedicated to supporting students with matters concerning their progress and welfare.

We are all hugely excited about moving into the new Sixth Form accommodation at half term. In the next edition of the newsletter we look forward to reporting on how the Sixth Formers have settled into their huge, state of the art common room and how their academic studies are progressing using their dedicated Sixth Form Study Centre!

The Sixth Form students are already having a very positive impact across the school. They have begun to provide enrichment opportunities for students lower down the school. There is an action project in Key Stage 3 where Sixth Form students work alongside Teaching Assistants to improve literacy. Another group of Sixth Formers are providing GCSE master classes for students in Key Stage 4. Mr Luther is working with Year 12 students who act as mentors for students in Years 8 and 9. Sixth Formers are also working alongside the PE Department in order to extend the sporting opportunities for students across the Marches.

In the Sixth Form we recognise that competition for top university places will be fierce. We are taking every opportunity we can to ensure applications from the Marches Sixth Form stand out from the crowd. We are incredibly excited to have been selected as a Champion School by the Cabinet Office as part of their National Citizenship Service (NCS) programme.

NCS is a personal and social development programme for young people. It invites all Year Year 12 students to be the best they can be, whatever their background and ambition. NCS provides them with the opportunity to develop the tools, skills and belief to unlock their potential and make their mark in their communities. We are heading off for a three night residential visit to an outdoor education centre in North Wales. Through a variety of physical, personal and creative challenges, our Sixth Formers will learn leadership, communication skills and team work. Students will then undertake a Social Action Project where they will use all their skills to create a project they really care about and bring it to life in their school or local area.

Miss Buckle, Assistant Headteacher: Head of Sixth Form ROTARY YOUTH LEADERSHIP AWARD

From Sunday 25th August – Friday 30th August I attended RYLA 2013 at Arthog. RYLA is a leadership course for students aged 16-18. Throughout the week we carried out a number of different activities (both mental and physical) which allowed us to develop as a person and develop our leadership skills. I experienced things like gorge walking, rock climbing, canoeing, mountain walking, team challenges, abseiling and mining. This was one of the best things I have ever done and has benefited me in my everyday life. I also feel like this has given me great leadership skills and would highly recommend this course. It was an unforgettable experience where I met some amazing people I am still in contact with, and learnt more than I ever thought I would.

Rhianne Lloyd, Year 12

Get your ‘L’ plates out… I have some good news for students turning 17 and considering preparing for their driving test. A local driving instructor has agreed to give Marches Sixth Form students an additional 5% off his student price. Please contact Paul Entwistle on 07941427650 for more details or visit www.firstgeardriving-oswestry.co.uk Meet the first ever Marches SIXTH 6FORMERS