Spring Newsletter 2014

Helsby High School Welcomes Comenius Visitors

We were delighted to welcome visitors from our two Comenius partner schools (Collège Noël Berrier, Corbigny, France and IGS Wallstraße Wolfenbüttel, Germany). Some of our Year 8 students hosted visitors, and worked together during the week on activities linked to the ‘Healthy Europe -Happy Europe’ project.

The Comenius project is a British Council funded initiative, named after Jan Amos Comenius who was a 16th Century educator and is generally considered to be the father of the modern education system. Comenius aims to develop knowledge and understanding among young people about the diversity of European cultures and the value of this diversity. The two year Comenius project will extend into next year, when our students will

make return visits to France and Germany.

This logo was designed by Zoe S, to represent our Comenius partnership project.

Talks were given by women currently INTERNATIONAL working in a variety of careers at Daresbury Laboratories and Stanlow WOMEN’S DAY Refinery. The pupils particularly enjoyed On Friday 7 the talk given by the keynote speaker, Dr M a r c h , Lucy Rogers, who gave a very inspiring f o u r t e e n presentation outlining her exciting work Year Ten with NASA, Rolls Royce, and the Hong girls visited Kong shipping industry amongst others. C h e s t e r University It certainly raised the profile of careers in as part of the engineering profession and also International highlighted the exciting opportunities Women’s Day. They attended a conference available to STEM subject graduates. organised by the Faculty of Science and Overall the students found the experience Engineering, promoting opportunities for very positive and it gave them lots to women in STEM subject careers. (Science, think about in terms of future careers.

Technology, Engineering and Maths). Over the coming months our Key Stage The day included a mixture of talks and Four pupils will have a range of hands on sessions including a opportunities which will help them to

demonstration of a 3D printer and a food make their important Post-16 choices. Spring 2014 tasting activity. Mrs M Marvin

1 Helsby High School Spring Newsletter 2014 Year 7 students visit Mosque in Liverpool During March, Year 7 pupils visited the Al-Rahma Mosque in Liverpool as part of their study of the religion of Islam. The visits included a tour of the Mosque, an exhibition of artefacts and an informative 'hands on' talk and question session. We were made to feel very welcome by everyone at the Mosque and the pupils were both enthusiastic and well behaved. A credit to Helsby High School. Pupils have sent a variety of cards to the Mosque as a way of saying thank you or 'Shakran'! Mrs J Penney

2 Helsby High School Spring Newsletter 2014 YOUTH PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS On 23 and 24 January, Year 10 and Year 11 took part in the youth parliament elections. The Youth Parliament is an organisation that is run by young people providing opportunities for 11-18 year-olds to use their voice in creative ways to bring about social change. The election Helsby students were involved with was to select a new youth parliament member for the area who will hold this position for a year. The experience was their first taste of with all individuals casting a vote for one of five candidates. The process involved watching the candidates pledge their principles and promises to the audience, similar to what we see in parliament! The outcome of the votes and thereby the winner will be announced on the 9 March, and the votes of the Helsby students will have contributed to the result. The general aim of the event was to introduce and encourage young people to engage in politics.

Y8 Spy Stories Last term Year 8 took part in a National pilot for a new style of English Teaching. The English department were extremely privileged to be selected to trial these exciting new lessons from Pearson Education. These lessons focus on teaching Grammar skills in context and allow pupils to develop higher level reading and writing skills in a completely new and engaging way. Over the lessons pupils learned about a wide range of Grammar skills from sentence construction to pronoun use with a focus on the genre of Spy Fiction. At the end of the unit pupils were given the opportunity to try out all their new skills by writing their own Spy Fiction stories, and what fantastic results they achieved! Over 90% of pupils achieved better than their target level and many pupils produced stories that GCSE pupils would be proud to say they had written. Mrs Booth said, “It’s quite amazing how far the pupils have come in such a short space of time, teaching Grammar in context is empowering for pupils and has a direct and significant impact on their progress.” Mrs Booth’s 8y1 class decided to introduce a competitive element to their Spy story writing with the top 3 stories awarded a prize. At the pupils’ request, the prize was to have their stories published on the school website so the top 3 stories can be read via www.helsbyhigh.org.uk. The winning stories were by: Zoe M, 8AME, Emily R, 8DME and Sam M, 8DME. Mrs E Booth, English Department

3 Helsby High School Spring Newsletter 2014 SCHOOL PRODUCTION “The best one yet” a long-standing member of the PE department exclaimed to one of my friends. She was, of course, referring to the mouthful-and-half that was this year’s home-made bona-fide original School Production, ‘John Scott Stevens Wants to Know Someone Who Will Change the World’. I had the pleasure of going on the last night (Best performance, and everyone cries at the end. Every. Single. Time).

The play tackled a difficult issue, namely: domestic abuse. It was split into four different acts, with music by The Beautiful South or The Housemartins weaved throughout. At the end of each act the audience was ushered out and then ushered in again to find the chairs having mysterious rearranged themselves. As each act told a different part in the lives of John – a dreamer who wants to know someone who will change the world – and Susan – the girl he falls in love with – this gave the audience a different perspective; a different way for the story to be told.

We were led, by the effervescent bundle of joy that was the Narrator, through a story which told of childhood and and love and loss and grief; a story which could flip from the hilarious absurdity of someone spitting cake across the stage to the soberness of watching John break down as Susan leaves him. It was only in the fourth act, with an audience already feeling overwhelmed, that we saw a broken Susan trapped in a bruising marriage and the poignant alter-ego of John, Pockets, trapped in the shadow of losing Susan to someone else. Even after Pockets shudders and weeps when he hears Susan is dead, the audience was not ready for Susan’s final, bittersweet legacy – the Susan Darling Foundation, a society that helps people escape abusive relationships – and that for one woman, through this Foundation, “Susan Darling literally changed my world.”

Once again, we have a testament to the tenacity and talent of Helsby High School’s inexhaustible Drama Department; not only to the effort and energy of both the teachers and the taught, but of their remarkable sensitivity and imagination in creating such a beautiful work of theatre.

Conor Ross J Lower 6 A portion of the money raised by the ticket sales went towards the Sara Charlton Foundation, which helps women suffering from domestic violence in the UK.

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Year 11 Revision Event Tuesday 11th March

Helsby High School invited all students, parents & carers to a Revision Event for Year 11 which was held on Tuesday 11th March. An Expert Speaker worked with students to ensure they revise more effectively and helped parents and carers to manage their stress… both sons, daughters and their own!

Thank you to all the parents and students that attended the event; the feedback was excellent and we are hope students utilise their new techniques when preparing for their forthcoming exams.

5 Helsby High School Spring Newsletter 2014 The Cheshire West and Chester Youth Senate In the past few months, our local council has set up a ‘Youth Senate’. The group is made up of 18 young people from across the local authority. Three of the members are from Helsby High School, these are myself, Beth Poole and Liam Jones. Other members are UK Youth Parliament candidates and a former UKYP member. The purpose of this group is to provide a young people’s voice in the council’s decision making. We hold conferences at the council headquarters in Chester and talk with people who run the local government and manage policy. In our December conference, we scrutinised and put forward our views on proposed changes to school transport provision to a senior planner in this area. We are involved in a wide range of issues in the Cheshire West and Chester area, such as education, health and sports. Should you wish to raise any issues, whether you feel that they are important to you, the wider community or both, then feel free to talk to any of the three ‘senators’ at school. Our job is to represent you, the young people in this area, and we will be sure to raise your concerns with the Youth Senate and the county council. Keith B

Design a Mobile App – Mrs Turner’s Classes Year 9 computing students were recently given a project brief to design a mobile application for their ICT project. Many students entered the competition and presented their Apps to their teacher. The standard was exceptionally high and the competition was fierce… just like it is in the real world! Dean 1st Prize After taking time to assess the quality of the innovations nd and the viability of their designs, Mrs Turner, ably assisted Dan 2 Prize by teaching assistants and 6th form computing students, Ryan 3rd Prize awarded prizes to the top five students. James 4th Prize Well Done to everybody that took part! Katelyn 5th Prize

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Year 8 Boys are County Sports-Hall Athletics Champions On Friday 7 March the Northgate Arena in Chester hosted the County Finals of the Sports-Hall Athletics competition. Each of the teams (year 7 boys, year 7 girls, year 8 boys and year 8 girls) had qualified for the finals by first winning their district competition. Having won in all categories at the district event, Helsby had a full complement of four teams at the event. All the teams performed well but the most credit should go to the boys from year 8 who finished in first place and picked up the trophy as County Champions. The year 8 boys’ team (pictured below) was: Niall T, Luke S, Sam M, James C, Jacob B and Brandon J.

Other results were: Year 7 Boys 2nd, Year 7 Girls 4th, and Year 8 Girls 4th. Year 7 & 8 Girls Team

Year 7 & 8 Boys Team

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an inter-counties match vs. Merseyside in 2014 Cheshire County March. Congratulations to all of them on their selection! Cross-Country In the Senior Boys race there were no current students competing however old boys Matthew On Saturday 18 January numerous Helsby th th students braved difficult conditions and poor H (4 ) and Patrick S (6 ) both represented Mid- weather to represent Halton district in the Cheshire with distinction. Cheshire Schools Cross-Country Championships at Knight’s Grange in Winsford. Full race details can be found at: In the Senior Girls (yrs. 12 & 13) race Jess P, www.cheshireschoolsaa.co.uk despite only just returning from injury and being a year young, finished in 2nd place which means she has qualified to run for Cheshire in the English Schools Championships. In the Inter Girls (yrs. 10 & 11) race Georgia M finished a very creditable 12th despite giving away a school year to many of the other runners. In the Junior Girls (yrs. 8 & 9) race Emily H, Natasha T, Eleanor J and Hannah B all ran well whilst in the Minor Girls (Yr. 7) race five nd Jess P (2 in Inter Girls) students represented the district. They were: Isla B, Orla M, Victoria W, Ellie M, Niamh O and Beth S.

All the girls put in good performances with Isla B th (17 ) deserving particular credit for making the Cheshire team to run vs. Merseyside in March. In the Junior Boys race Jacob B (Yr. 8) finished th th 11 out of 73 runners with Harri B finishing 46 . In the Minor Boys race seven students ran for nd the district: Sonny D, Rob H, Ed J, Finlay M, Max Sonny D (2 in Minor C, Joe W and Oliver A. Boys) Sonny (2nd), Rob (6th), Ed (12th) and Finlay (15th) have all qualified to represent Cheshire in

Ex-student Kyle gets achievements and it is great to see his hard work and dedication pay off. Kyle will follow in USA Scholarship the footsteps of other ex-Helsby students; Devan B (Central Connecticut State), Jack M (Polk State) and Jason H (Hannibal-LaGrange), Ex-student Kyle S (GCSE class of 2011) has just who have earned basketball scholarships to the received the exciting news that he has been USA. awarded a full four year basketball scholarship Links: to Post University in the USA. Post Eagles website Kyle (who has spent the last three years since http://posteagles.com/ leaving Helsby combining studying and playing Kyle Squire Season 2011-12 highlights League Division 1 basketball at the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wspz4fM_Zuc Bristol ) will be representing the Post University Eagles for the next four years in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference of the NCAA division 2. He will also be studying to earn a degree during his time in America. Everyone at Helsby is very proud of Kyle’s

8 Helsby High School Spring Newsletter 2014 Helsby High School Voted 15th Best State Sports School 2013!

School Sport Magazine recently released their list of the 30 best state sports schools of 2013 and Helsby High has been voted in at 15th position. The top 30 reflects competitive achievement in a range of sports throughout 2013 and honours those schools that take competition seriously. The list is based on 20 different sports and more than 120 different national competitions. “This national recognition is testament to the hard work and dedication of all the boys and girls in our sports teams as well as the support and commitment of all members of the PE department. The fact that 8 of the 14 schools placed ahead of us in the list have selective admissions policies makes the achievement even more notable.” Paul Park (Head of Physical Education)

U13 Boys National Basketball Champions

9 Helsby High School Spring Newsletter 2014 Football 6th Form team remain undefeated in the Championship of the Merseyside league and remain on course for the play off finals after the Easter holidays. Since the Christmas holidays we have been solid at the back with the ever consistent Harris Y marshalling the defence and agility and reflexes of Joe S in goal. We have still been playing out from the back which has been a joy to watch at times. However, we haven’t been prolific in front of goal. Two draws against Mosslands and St Francis of Assisi have been hard fought but without a killer instinct of the early season. We were back to winning ways with against Wirral Met with a fantastic 6 0 win.

Year 10 It has been disappointing that a number of games have been cancelled because of the weather. But the boys have been training hard. A difficult game against a very robust and physical St Peters and Paul team which included a number of year 11’s saw a home defeat 1 4. However, I was impressed that the boys kept to their passing principles. But the team must learn not to be intimidated by bigger opposition and stand up and be counted. This will allow their talent to shine.

Year 9 The team have been playing some excellent football and training really hard. Alex S has been excellent at the back not just defensively but bringing the ball out of defence like young Alan Hansen. Alex M the captain in full of running and never gives the ball away. Will G and Ollie O a very good partnership in midfield. The boys showed great character to come back from 2 goals down against Wade Deacon but conceded two late goals because of fatigue. The following week the boys scored 9 against Bankfield.

Year 8 The year 8’s lost against St Peter and Pauls 4-1 but are training really hard and improving their understanding and listening skills. The boys must keep working and never give up and results will come.

Year 7 The year 7 5-a-side team won Halton 5 aside tournament then represented Halton in the county finals. Unfortunately Christleton proved a little too strong but the boys played some really good football and it was a great experience. I have been very impressed with all the boys with 30 boys training on Friday night. The boys have had some excellent results against The Heath, Wade Deacon but have had narrow defeats against Christleton and SFX. If the boys want to win the Cheshire cup this is the bench mark.

10 Helsby High School Spring Newsletter 2014 SKI TRIP 2014 Aprica, Italy

On Friday 14th February 45 students from Years 8, 10 & 11 together with 6 members of staff set off in a coach headed for the Italian ski resort of Aprica. The journey was scheduled to take 26 hours but thanks to Friday night rush hour on the M25, the terrible conditions in the Channel and some interesting sat nav routes from our drivers, actually ended up taking 32! This would have been even longer if it wasn't for Mr J and his trusty European road map! Arriving later than expected meant there would be no time for skis and boots to be fitted until after breakfast the following morning so after dinner the whole group went to bed extremely tired and not looking forward to the 6:00 a.m. alarm call ready for a 6:30 a.m. breakfast! Skis and boots were fitted with great efficiency despite the early start and the students then got the bus to the slopes where they were split into four groups with their instructors for the week; Luigi, Franco, Bruno and Mariana. They were then sent out on their first of 12 lessons for the week. Throughout the week the students experienced a wide variety of snow and weather conditions however the deep base of snow meant that the skiing was good in all conditions and all students made rapid progress. All the students seemed to respond extremely well to their instructors with Luigi and Franco becoming particular favourites. It was extremely pleasing that of a possible 1080 hours of lessons that our students were able to take part in only 2 hours were missed all week. This is absolutely remarkable and is by far the best turn out of any ski group I've ever known. As well as the skiing every day there was a wide variety of après-ski entertainments organised and run by our rep Sarah in the evenings. There was a quiz night, ten-pin bowling, bingo, pizza and karaoke and to top it off a fancy dress disco which saw many of our students make a great effort with their costumes. The students who took part in the trip were a credit to the school and their behaviour was excellent. I'm sure they all enjoyed their week and learned a great deal about skiing as well as themselves. I hope that for many of them this is the start of a lifelong participation in the great sport of skiing and that we see as many of them as possible skiing with the school in the future. Mr P Park (Ski Tour Leader)

Quotes “We had a great time. Our ski instructors were really good and it was an amazing trip. I would recommend it to anyone to experience a fun week in Italy” (Alfie P. Yr. 8) “An amazing experience; the most phenomenal holiday I’ve been on!” (Sam M. Yr. 8) “Really good holiday; skiing was very fun with good, friendly instructors and there were a lot of good entertainments in the evening.” (Jacob B. Yr. 8) “It was definitely worth the 30 hour coach trip!” (Olly R. Yr. 8) “Best holiday ever!” (James R. Yr. 8) “It was an amazing experience and great value for money. From the first day to the last I was always entertained.” (James H. Yr. 8) “Out of everybody that went there wasn’t one person who didn’t enjoy skiing!” (Wes O. Yr.8) “The coach trip was worth the wait for an amazing experience!” (James H. Yr. 8) “I have skied several times before but only twice with an instructor. I have improved a lot because my instructor taught me a lot of new things like jumping and carving.” (Natasha T. Yr.8) “Skiing was amazing, I improved loads. It was funny watching the teachers singing at karaoke!” (Hannah P. Yr. 8) “It was an amazing trip. We learned how to ski much better and had so many great experiences.” (Katie C. Yr. 8) “I’ve never skied before but the instructors made it really fun and we went on black runs!” (Esme C. Yr. 8) “I enjoyed all of skiing and when we went to the disco was the best because we were the only ones in fancy dress and some of the teachers were dancing!” (Georgia M. Yr. 8)

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We were entered in the Netball Ellesmere Port League Another again this year with the year has last match coming soon. gone by Until this is played we will quickly and not know our finish during this position by the time this time there goes to press but I’m has been a pretty sure all age groups have lot of netball training and finished in the top two if not winning the league. matches. The real congratulations go to the Year I have been particularly overwhelmed by the 7’s who have shown superb focus and determination of pupils both in Year 7 and 8 who determination to improve which has been evident have worked so hard to be in the teams but are in the outstanding commitment to training always just on the cusp of selection. They have throughout the year. This has meant that they never moaned when not selected and have have now adopted a significant winning streak in continued to work hard and ask questions as to their recent matches both in the ‘A’ and ‘B’ how they can improve further. It is people like teams. At the start of the year they were beaten you that will succeed in life as that determination by Bridgewater by a 20 goal margin. A recent has to pay off in the end. Girls, you know who match saw them beat the strong side you are and well done and never give up. Bridgewater 12-11. The same was seen against A particular mention must go to two Year 11 Whitby High School where they beat us GCSE PE students Cara G and convincingly at the start of the year and we beat Faye W who chose netball them last week 10-2. The real sign of their leadership/coaching as progress comes in the County netball tournament one of their sports to be that is due to be played on 29 March at Whitby assessed in. They have High School. This tournament is the finale to the shown excellent netball season and is the main focus of training commitment, planning throughout the year. As well as Year 7, Year 8 and progress with how to and 9 will be competing too. coach/lead and have built The Year 8 team had their hearts set on raising an excellent rapport with money to buy netball dresses and held a cake pupils in all age groups. sale to raise The respect the pupils the funds. show these girls is a true The team compliment to the solidarity in commitment they have achieving put into helping out. They this was should prove excellent role models to the admirable. younger pupils they inspire. They look Finally, many of the schools we play achieve their very smart; success primarily because the pupils in their let’s hope teams attend clubs outside of school. We do have they play a few pupils in this position but it would be great smart at the tournament! to see more girls attending these clubs to get There have been members of the older teams more time to play netball and develop their who should be congratulated for their regular interest and skill level further. If you would like attendance at club but it has been a real battle to receive more information about these clubs, on occasions to get all the members of the older please ask your daughter to see me at school. teams together at the same time to train. This is A great season ladies and good luck for the such a shame as when they really apply tournament! themselves they can make superb progress which has been evident in the build up to this Miss R Clarke tournament. This commitment throughout the (Head of Girls PE) whole year would see massive gains in team success.

12 Helsby High School Spring Newsletter 2014 FANTASTIC FOOTBALL FROM THE GIRLS!!! It has been a very busy but extremely successful term for girls’ football at Helsby. We currently have 3 teams that are all left in various competitions and numbers at training remain very high. U16 (Year 10 &11) After becoming district champions in the Ellesmere Port and stage of the Cheshire schools 7 a side tournament the girls then went on to represent the district in the Cheshire schools winter games finals which were held at The University of Chester. The girls played 7 games in a round robin tournament and won all 7 games which meant that they now played in the final against who had finished in second place. Helsby had already beaten a very strong Poynton side and knew it was going to be a tough final, unfortunately Poynton wanted revenge and after a long time of being goalless they eventually scored to win 1-0. The girls were extremely disappointed to come away as county runners up and silver medals, showing great desire to be successful. However, they should be incredibly proud of their achievements and how they conducted themselves throughout the day.

The success of the U16 team has continued in the Cheshire cup competition. After beating All Hallows 4-1 in the quarter finals the girls then faced Lymm in the semi-finals. The majority of the Helsby and Lymm girls all play football together outside of school for Frodsham FC and so both sides knew it was going to be a tough game. With Helsby having the majority of the possession for the first 20 mins and at least 5 near misses, Lymm broke away and scored. It remained 1-0 with about 10 minutes of the game to go and eventually luck was on our side and finally the ball went in to the back of their net. Cheers from the sidelines and encouragement from Captain Rachael saw the girls really push on in the final minutes of the game, with 3 consecutive corners. The third saw words of wisdom from a frustrated Headmaster who told Annabel to go short for the corner from Leah. For once Annabel listened to the Head and went short, she received the ball and hit it with power into the top corner of the net!!!!! 2-1 Helsby with 3 minutes to go. The longest 3 minutes later saw a jubilant team of girls celebrating success and a Cheshire Cup Final to be held on Wednesday 2nd April at Middlewich Town FC. U14 (Year 8 & 9) The U14 team also achieved success in the district 7 a side tournament also becoming district champions after beating Neston in the final on penalties. As with the U16 team the girls then went on to represent the district in the Cheshire schools winter games finals and after finishing the round robin stage of the tournament the girls found out that they had reached the third and fourth place play off. After finding out who they were playing in the play offs the girls’ heads dropped as they were playing the only team that had beaten them in the earlier stages of the competition. After a quick team talk the girls decided they had nothing to lose and went out fighting and their excellent passing and superb defending from Christine and Hannah ensured it was 0-0 at half time. Revenge came in the second half when a great goal from Molly gave Helsby the victory and bronze medals all round. It was a superb tournament and the girls played some brilliant football and should be incredibly proud of what they achieved.

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In the Cheshire cup the U14’s have reached the semi-finals after beating a very strong side from Eaton Bank. Helsby were 2-0 down at half time, but after words of advice at half time and a second half playing downhill and the wind behind us Helsby went out a much stronger and determined side. The winning goal very calmly taken under pressure from Molly W saw Helsby win 3-2.

U12 (Year 6 and 7) Helsbys’ first ever girls U12 team have got off to a brilliant start beating Ormskirk High School 1-0 in a very evenly matched game. Our two year 6 players looked incredible strong and comfortable on the ball. Libby G was our match winner and voted player of the match by the opposition. The girls now face Wright Robinson Sports College in the next round of the English Schools Cup. The U12’s also entered the district 7 a side competition and played some brilliant football on the astroturf at Neston High School. The girls were joint winners of the tournament but unfortunately missed out on joining the older girls in the Cheshire winter games finals on goal difference!!

Congratulations to Mia C (Y7) and Hannah P (Y8) who are both currently playing football for Cheshire. Well Done girls!!

Training will continue throughout the summer for all girls from Y6 upwards, even if you have never played football before please come along and give it a go. Well done to all the girls that have been involved in what has been a very successful season for girls’ football. Keep up the good work!! Miss N Wilkes

SUN PROTECTION MCAS During the first few weeks of Summer Term, the school There are a number will be sending out text messages to the parents and of school visits taking place carers of any students with an unexplained absence requesting over the summer when that they check MCAS and provide the school with a reason for the absence. Thereafter, we will send weekly text messages each children will be outdoors for Friday afternoon as a reminder to parents and carers if there has the best part of the day, including, of been an unexplained absence during that week. We hope parents course, sports day. This country does and carers will find this useful and will help ensure unauthorised endure a fair amount of rain and not absences are not recorded on a student’s record when there has a lot of sun but we would ask parents been a legitimate reason for the absence. If you receive a text to be well prepared and send their message please send a brief reply to the text or via email to: child into school with sun protection, [email protected]. even if it is a cloudy day.

14 Helsby High School Spring Newsletter 2014 The Big Bang! Truly WOW! Back in June of last year Emily entered the regional heats of the National Science and Engineering Competition with her Silver Crest Award Project ‘Could there be another planet like ours?’. She was awarded a place at the National finals which have just been held in Birmingham as part of The Big Bang Science fair, along with 199 other finalists from around the U.K. (You may have heard of it, she was in the intermediate section of the competition from which the Young Scientist of the Year was chosen.) Emily was joined by Emma who had also completed a Silver Crest award project and went along to experience all the other opportunities also available at the fair. This is what happened over the 48 hours they were there.

Wednesday evening Emily and Emma arrived in Birmingham. Emily set up her stand, along with many other exhibitors such as UK Space, The British Society for Plant Pathology, Glaxo Smith Kline, Rolls-Royce, E-On, BAE Systems, the NHS as well as all the other national finalists entered for the National Science & Engineering Competition. Thursday morning we arrived at 8am to allow Emily to prepare for the judging that took place for the National Competition, and to prepare for some of the 75,000 people who attended over the course of the four day science fair.

At the end of two very busy days Emily took her place alongside the other National finalists from around the as they gathered in the auditorium for the equivalent of the Young Scientist BAFTA’s. Although Emily did not win, the experience was ‘Interesting’ , ‘Exciting’ , ‘A once in a lifetime experience!’ Dr. Ravetz

15 Helsby High School Spring Newsletter 2014 Wife of Bath Lectures

On Thursday 6 March, our group of literature students along with Ms Boyer travelled to the centre of Manchester to hear a series of lectures on ‘The Wife of Bath’. As her Prologue and Tale from Chaucer’s ‘The Canterbury Tales’ are examination texts, it’s useful to gain insight from a number of different sources and opinions, and each lecturer delivered precisely that, ensuring that the decision to take extra paper for note making was not in vain. Exploring a variety of topics, the day was certainly helpful and, despite faulty fire alarms, seemed to run smoothly. Overall, I’m sure everyone would agree that the train journeys and long day were certainly worthwhile; enjoyable as well as educational.

Mary S Upper 6

Remembering the Holocaust

On Friday 28 February Conservative MP Graham Evans came into school to speak to Year 9 pupils about the importance of remembering the Holocaust. Students have been examining the Holocaust as part of their study of Prejudice and Discrimination. Graham Evans accompanied one of the sixth form groups who visited Auschwitz last term and the two representatives from Helsby also gave a presentation of their visit to Year 9. The students were attentive listeners who made a very good impression on MP Graham Evans. Mrs J Penney

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This has been a very busy term for our cluster Primary Schools. Well done to everyone who has participated in Leadership training and the competitions. (Artie Senior SSCO)

Playleader Training This programme involves training primary school students to deliver playground activities for other students. This may be a young person’s first experience of being a leader, and volunteering their own time to benefit others, as well as hopefully helping

them develop as an individual. Generally it is the year 5 and 6 students that are actively involved in the Play Leaders programme, delivering activities for younger school students. They undertake a simple 3 hour informal training session before actually becoming a Play Leader. The Play Leaders Programme may be very different from one school to another, as it is each individual school, and their students, that take ownership of this programme and shape it how they wish. Play Leaders are awarded with caps so that they are visible to their peers and some schools recognise the number of hours each Play Leader undertakes as part of their role, by awarding a certificate after students have achieved 8 sessions. It is hoped that once Play Leaders leave their Primary School they are keen Sports Leaders and join the Leadership Programme when they start attending High School.

Dodgeball Mini Leaders The UK Dodgeball Association have designed a young leadership award to allow pupils from year 5 & 6 an opportunity to take their first step onto the leadership pathway. Through the exciting and inclusive new sport of Dodgeball the award gives upper Key Stage 2 pupils the chance to learn leadership skills and new formats of the sport in a totally practical way—empowering the mini leaders with the confidence and knowledge to deliver sessions and competitions within their schools to younger age groups and their peers.

ACTIVE, ACHIEVE, ENJOY ACHIEVE, ACTIVE,

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Sports Hall Y5/6 Sports Hall provides the ideal format for developing core skills and fitness required for most other sports.

An exciting range of track events encourage team work, agility, speed and endurance while the Sports Hall field events are ideal for improving fitness and monitoring progress. All activity takes place in a community sportshalls using portable equipment. Sports Hall is inclusive and offers age related programmes that can be integrated easily into School and Club curricular.

Basketball Y5/6 Cheshire Phoenix players and coaches attended the Y5/6 Basketball competition which was organised and run by Helsby’s Y9 National Champions. The Helsby students coached the teams before the start of the competition, organised a warm up session, ran the technical table and refereed the games.

High 5 Netball Y5/6 Because of bad weather the Netball competition was move indoors to Frodsham Leisure Centre. Helsby Y7’s helped organise the teams and Sixth Formers ran the technical table and refereed the games.

ACTIVE, ACHIEVE ENJOY

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Helsby High’s Spring Festival 2014

Sunday 27th April, 12pm—4pm

A fantastic opportunity to meet with friends, have fun and raise funds for our local high school! It promises to be a lovely annual event for the school and local community. Live music & performances with Helsby’s Got Talent

 Scalextric Championships

 Pyrographics

 Craft Market

 Chocolate Tombola

 Candy Floss

 Tuck Shop

 Unique works of art for sale—created by talented Helsby art students

 Face Painting

 Fun Games

 Raffle, Refreshments and much more!

…...Calling all Crafters

If you would like a craft stall—book now! Please email [email protected] before 28th March 2014

…...Help If you can offer an hour of help on the day (no special talents needed) please email [email protected], check www.helsbyhigh.org.uk for details nearer the time, or contact Karen Neal at the school

19 Helsby High School Spring Newsletter 2014 Message from Mr Dowler - Easter 2014 Much to Celebrate - Over the last 3 months we have had much to celebrate at Helsby High School: Ofsted Visit The school was last inspected in October 2008 and since then the Ofsted framework had changed a number of times. We were pleased that the team of five inspectors recognised some of the many positive aspects of the school. Some of the Inspectors’ findings include:

“This is an improving school.” “Students’ attainment is high.” “The majority of teaching is good, with some that is outstanding.” “Students’ behaviour is good. They are happy and proud of their school and are mutually respectful of one another.” “Students feel safe in school and have a good awareness of e-safety.” “The rich variety of extra-curricular activities enhances the memorable experiences of students.” “The Sixth Form is good and improving. The students are exemplary role models for other students in the main school.”

Clearly there is much to commend in the report, which also confirms that we are addressing the key priorities to improve the school even further. I would like to thank our students, staff and parents/ carers for all their hard work and support, particularly during the inspection. School Production It was delightful to see over 70 students putting on a wonderful production of an original play ‘John Scott Stevens’. The cast worked incredibly hard and supported each other to produce a terrific performance. Well done to all those involved and thank you to Mrs Cross, Mrs McGrail and other staff for all their hard work. Top State Schools for Sport A recent article in ‘School Sport Magazine’ featured the top 30 state schools for sport in England. We were delighted to be recognised in 15th place (out of over 3,000 state secondary schools in England). The top 30 reflects competitive achievement in a range of sports throughout 2013 and honours those schools that take competition seriously. The achievement is even more notable given the fact that, of the 14 schools placed ahead of us in the list, at least eight have selective admissions policies. This is a tremendous accolade and reflects the talents and conscientious effort of our young people and staff. Well done! Improved funding from April 2015 As you may be aware, schools in Cheshire West and Chester are amongst the lowest funded per student in England. We therefore welcome the recent Government announcement to increase school funding for schools in the lowest funded local authorities. From April 2015 we hope that the expected 5% growth will allow the Governors and Senior Leadership team more flexibility in our financial spending decisions. Comenius Visit On 23 March 2014 we welcomed our Comenius partner schools for their first visit to our school.

We hope that the students and staff from the Collège Noël Berrier Corbigny in France and from IGS Wallstraße Wolfenbüttel in Germany all enjoy their week with us. They have an exciting list of activities to experience such as visits to Anfield, Chester, Gaelic football and the Tri-O Challenge as well as food workshops. For some inexplicable reason a visit to see Tranmere Rovers at Prenton Park has been missed off the list!

I wish you all a Happy Easter.

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