Saints Advocate Advocate Vol 5 No 5 May 2014
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AllAll Saints Advocate Advocate Vol 5 No 5 May 2014 ALL SAINTS ACADEMY From the Principal have the best possible lead in for these very important tests. Good luck to all students in these busy times and I look forward to some excellent Dear Parents results in the Summer. What a difference a year makes! This time In the meantime, the Academy facilities last year we had just taken possession of continue to be a focus for local schools and I our external All Weather Pitch (see am delighted that we have entered teams for picture). One year on, after careful new sports for the first time, for example Tennis, maintenance, we now have beautiful Dodgeball and Gymnastics. We acknowledge grounds and four excellent tennis courts. In excellent reports from two major visits recently: addition to this, we have state of the art cycle the visit to Krakow was a universal success and our parking and a campus of which we can be proud. third Sports Tour to Holland was the best one so far. The Academy is getting ever busier and from a school As we now move close to our first full cohort as an roll of 529 in 2012 we currently have approximately 11-18 Secondary School I look forward to an even 700 students. In September 2014 we shall house 880 greater range of extra-curricular activities. students – a full Academy! We are now oversubscribed in Year 7 and we have a waiting list, Tom Waterworth and numbers continue to rise in Year 9. Principal The atmosphere around the Academy is excellent and student behaviour at all times is extremely positive. Visitors continue to tell us how calm the environment is at All Saints. I am obviously proud that we are very calm because we do wish the best preparation for all Year 11, 12 and 13 students who will be sitting examinations in May and June. We will do our best to continue to have high levels of behaviour, politeness and citizenship so that all students sitting their exams www.allsaintsacademydunstable.org CHEERLEADING COMPETITION Come and join in the fun and be part of the All Saints Academy Cheerleading Team. Competition training will run every WEDNESDAY after school, 3:30 – 4:30. All ages, genders and abilities welcome! Kelly Mannion Teacher of Sport, Health and Leisure Girls during one of many practice sessions NEW MINIBUS I am pleased to announce that the Academy now has a new, second minibus. This is a modern, lightweight transit minibus which seats 14 people. It is proving to be a valuable resource, which helps to provide students with access to school fixtures, visits and residentials, as well as extra-curricular activities. Many of the Academy’s staff have already undertaken minibus driver training to allow them to drive the new vehicle safely. Fortunately, this includes all the Academy P.E. staff. It now means getting to fixtures and sports events is made easier, with more students able to participate. Not only has this lifted the spirits of the staff and students, but gives good consideration to the Academy’s profile within the community and provides our students with better opportunities to visit new places and learn new things. Paula Burgess Assistant Vice Principal – Finance & Operations www.allsaintsacademydunstable.org 2 STUDENT JOURNALIST AT ALL SAINTS I am delighted to announce that Keely Sharp, Sixth Form Student, has joined the Advocate Planning Team as our Student Journalist and will be writing a range of articles for this and future editions of the All Saints Advocate. Keely will choose stories and events of personal interest to her and will interview relevant members of staff and students to gather details for her articles. It is hoped that Keely will also be able to conduct a series of interviews with key Sponsors/Governors during her time with us so watch this space! Keely would like to pursue a career in magazine journalism and is currently researching which universities offer the relevant courses. Keely is a welcome addition to the Team and we hope that you will enjoy reading her valuable contributions. Please join us in supporting Keely in her ambition to become a journalist – I hope you will agree that she has certainly made an excellent start with her article on Page 8. Sharon Reid PA to Principal INSIDE THIS ISSUE Cheerleading Competition Page 2 New Minibus Page 2 Student Journalist Page 3 Red Cross Dance Competition Page 4 Coca-Cola Enterprise Project Page 5 Bike Shelters Page 6 Ian Rose Visit Page 7 Psychology Trip Page 8 Dunstable Rotary Club Visit Page 9 Maths Challenge Page 10 Afternoon Tea Page 11 Sports Tour Pages 12 & 13 Rounders & Athletics Clubs Page 14 School Games News Page 15 Vivo Miles Page 16 Information Pages Pages 17,18 & 19 3 www.allsaintsacademydunstable.org RED CROSS FUNDRAISING DANCE COMPETITION On Saturday 21 June 2014 , nine Year 12 BTEC Level 3 students will be taking part in the annual Red Cross ‘Dance Make Your Move’ competition. We are currently in rehearsals for the 8 minute Street/Contemporary Dance Routine ‘Capturing Innocence’, which is centred on children who are taken as child soldiers and made to fight against their will before being released to regain their childhood. The performance will take place at Pollhill Campus, University of Bedfordshire at 3pm on Saturday 21 June. If you would like to show your support, tickets are currently on sale on the Red Cross Dance Make your Move website £8/£6. www.redcross.org.uk Students are currently fundraising for the Red Cross Charity and if you would like to make a donation, please speak to myself. Any donation would be gratefully received. Heather Howard 3rd in Curriculum, Creating & Designing www.allsaintsacademydunstable.org 4 BUSINESS - COCA-COLA ENTERPRISE PROJECT Year 10 Business students had to come up with a NEW juice brand. The winning team was invited to attend the Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd in London on Wednesday 19 March 2014. The visit was completely free of charge and involved a short video presentation on Business Marketing and a tour of the Coca-Cola plant. This visit benefited the students by bringing the industry alive giving them a first-hand experience of the manufacturing and business world. The visit provided our students with the opportunities to make connections between work done in the classroom and real life business practices. In addition, it supported them with the preparation for the world of work, and enhanced delivery of the national curriculum, supporting the work-related and enterprise agenda. “This was the first time that we have had students from All Saints Academy. We would have no hesitation to welcome students from All Saints in the future. These students are a credit to your Academy with their exceptional behaviour.” Joseph - Education Centre Manager Farzana Asghar Acting CL– ICT & Business 5 www.allsaintsacademydunstable.org BIKE SHELTERS Our fantastic new bike shelters were officially opened for use on Friday 2 May when Dave Osborne, the Bicycle Drummer of ‘Puncture Kit’, did the honours before leading an assembly for Year 7, encouraging them to aspire, strive and achieve their passions, whether it’s music, sport, academic study or a career path. Students were even able to try their skills on Dave’s drums, which is built around his bike frame and converts from drum kit to bike in five minutes. Shelters over the bike-parking area were one of those things not provided by the new building programme. We were really fortunate to get support from SUSTRANS in finding a grant from Central Bedfordshire Council for the full amount for superb new shelters, installed before Easter. As the British Summer approaches, students know that their bikes and scooters are not only safe but also dry for their return journeys home, which is a further encouragement to use them for getting to school. Many thanks to Dave Osborne, Derek Smulders from SUSTRANS, and Nick Shaw from CBC for their help and support at the Academy. Alasdair Coles AVP - Chaplain www.allsaintsacademydunstable.org 6 SKY SPORT LIVING FOR SPORT VISIT Ian Rose visited our students this term to provide them with sessions relating to their confidence, challenges and goal-setting. The students thoroughly enjoyed the session with each of them setting 3 short term goals to achieve. These goals are individually related to each student and have been checked against the students’ progress. In the afternoon Ian organised and taught a Judo session where students learnt the basics of Judo and were able to see the strength of our Paralympian medallist. The day was a great success and students are more motivated than ever to plan our Sky Sports Summer Festival. Martin Conway Teacher of Sport, Health and Leisure 7 www.allsaintsacademydunstable.org PSYCHOLOGY VISIT As our first year of Sixth Form is coming to a close, choosing the career path we are going to take after studying at All Saints is becoming more and more important. Luckily enough, at All Saints we are regularly given opportunities which help things become a lot clearer during this very stressful time. On 26 March 2014 the A Level Psychology students visited the University of Bedfordshire for the day to get an insight into what a Psychology course entails at university. We started the day by taking a tour of the University; visiting classrooms, lecture theatres and social areas, and we even got to look at the accommodation. Additionally, we got to visit Moot Court, which is where law students practise their theory – the layout was similar to the one of a real court.