Newsletter July 2015 Community Newsletter Introduction Dear Parent/Carer, What an incredible term it has been as saltash.net community school! There We were exceptionally lucky with the weather - both for Sports Day and for the have been so many occasions of note, it is hard to know where to begin to 50th Anniversary celebration; maybe there was just something ringing true there acknowledge all that our students and staff have achieved. about ‘the sun shining on the righteous’! Staff involved in organising both of these events truly deserved the sun to be out. We could have postponed Sports I would like to start by thanking all of you for the support and encouragement you Day to our reserve day and we could have held most of the 50th Activities in the give your children and for the interest you take in all that we do at our school. The Sports Hall and Gym - but it definitely wouldn’t have been the same. Thank you students here at saltash.net are such a credit to you and to the local community. to all parents who turned up to support these events and I do hope you enjoyed Over the past term, those sitting examinations in Years 10, 11, 12 and 13 have yourselves and will find the reports in this newsletter interesting. conducted themselves in an exemplary fashion, despite all of the pressure, stresses and challenges they have encountered along the way. They have worked As we approach the end of this school year, there are, of course, some very sad so hard and really deserve the best possible outcomes on results days this moments to contemplate, alongside all of the celebrations. Next Wednesday, 22nd summer (A Level 13th August and GCSE 20th August). July, we will be saying farewell to a number of colleagues, some of whom have been with us for a very long time and all of whom have made an outstanding There have been many other occasions when our students have demonstrated contribution to the life of our school. We wish all staff departing the very best with that they know how to behave appropriately, especially when representing the their future plans and I would particularly like to thank and acknowledge all that school on trips and visits or at public events. the staff retiring have done over the years: Mr Armer 36 years, Mr Scantlebury 23 years, Mr Normanton 23 years, Mrs West 20 years, Mrs Loyn 6 years, Mrs Potterton Over the last term, we’ve had the 6th Form May Ball at the Duke of Cornwall 15 years and Mrs Sherrard 10 years. Hotel, the Year 11 Prom at Boringdon Golf and Country Club, Sports Day, County Athletics Competitions, Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and Ten Tors, a Theme Day All that remains is for me to wish everyone a very happy summer holiday. We which included taking almost the whole of Year 10 to London and this week look forward to welcoming back our new Year 7 and 6th Form on Monday 7th Curriculum Enrichment activities near and far and Work Experience for Years 10 September, and the rest of the school on Tuesday 8th September. and 12. With very best wishes, I know of a number of schools which, for a variety of reasons, have significantly cut back on their enrichment programmes. Personally, I feel this is a great shame as I believe it is so important to balance academic success with the development of our young people as well rounded individuals, able to take their place in our society confidently and successfully. That is why we place so much emphasis on our Core Values of Respect, Responsibility, Perseverance, Compassion, Honesty Mrs I Bryce and Fairness. Headteacher On Saturday 4th July, the whole school community came together to celebrate fifty years of education on our Wearde Road site. It was a glorious day of fun, memories and reunions, made possible by the extremely hard work of our staff and students who threw themselves into the organisation of the day with all the enthusiasm and passion you would expect from saltash.net. Towards the end of the day, when everyone was enjoying the evening sunlight, the live music and the refreshments, a parent whose three children had gone through our school turned to one of our staff and said, ‘Only saltash.net could organise an event like this… and arrange the weather too!’ 2 saltash.net community school saltash.net community school 3 Physics enrichment at Falmouth Together in Electric Dreams As part of a physics enrichment In the afternoon there was another Year 12 A Level Physics students cumbersome engine taking up space opportunity, a group of 11 6th Form lecture on cryptography and how we at saltash.net community school under the bonnet, there was plenty students joined other physicists from were able to send secret messages were given an unexpected learning of room for shopping and luggage! around Cornwall for a day course using codes such as ENIGMA during opportunity on the morning of Friday at Falmouth University campus. the Second World War. The talk then 5th June. As chance would have it, they Following their investigation of the described how we now use quantum happened to be in a Physics lesson electric car, the students were able to The day consisted of a lecture cryptography to openly send codes with their teacher, Miss Ripper, when research the life and works of the car’s describing how new particles are which are unbreakable. The pupils ex-student and highly successful namesake, Nikola Tesla, an inventor, found at the Large Hadron Collider sent and decrypted their own London Car Salesman, Bradley Carr, electrical engineer, mechanical in Geneva and the pupils Skyped quantum code in a hands on session. drove into school in a state of the art engineer, physicist and futurist who a researcher at CERN. The students electric car that a client of his had lent is best known for his contributions to were then given the opportunity The day directly linked to the A2 him for a few days enabling him to the design of the modern alternating to use a computer simulation to try physics course so was a really return to his home in Cornwall in style! current (AC) electricity supply system. and find their own Higgs Boson! worthwhile trip and pupils were inspired by the visit to the university. Bradley, who had undertaken a Work Speaking after Bradley’s visit, Mrs Experience placement at the Bramall Bryce, said, ‘It is always excellent when Allen Vauxhall showrooms and garage ex-students want to return to their in Saltash alongside his A Levels in school to give something back to their 2002-4, had kept in touch with his old community. Bradley has done so well school and was pleased to be able to in his career and is now one of the return to share with current students main sales people at the Aston Martin the latest in electric car technology. showrooms on Park Lane, Mayfair.’ The A Level Physicists were able to explore the £80,000 Tesla car for themselves and were impressed to hear from Bradley how it could do around 310 miles on one electrical charge. They were also impressed Physicist of the Year award with the in-car computer system and the clever design which meant the Matt Seymour in 12BE was nominated car could easily convert from being a for the ‘Physicist of the Year award’ 5 seater into a 7 seater – and with no and this is a lovely photo of him from the award ceremony which took place on Monday 29th June at Exeter University. He was given the award in recognition of his passion and enthusiasm for the subject and for his hard work and perseverance. 4 saltash.net community school saltash.net community school 5 Year 8s immerse themselves in Year 9 Maths Masterclass experience they won’t forget On the 17th June, we, as part of a to explore the campus, provided we mathematics celebration, attended were back in time for our last lesson. Exam season can be a testing time to show them the importance of a maths master-class at Plymouth for anyone, especially when you are keeping the entry slip safe.” university. The day started at 10am, The last activity of the day was by a teenager. It’s always important, and after making our own way there, far the best! We were exploring the however, to realise these exams and As the students entered the hall they we signed in at the desk and received formulas of shapes in relation to the the results are only a part of who were greeted by rows of tables filled name badges, our timetable for the faces, edges and vertices. This involved you as a person, and they don’t need with test paper, and a bottle of water. day and were told what to do. It was creating our own shapes with models to be as daunting as they appear. “We wanted to get them focussed, exciting, as we were representing and then seeing if they matched the but also relax them,” explained Mrs our school, and there were no adults pattern. We then proved the formula! For this reason, the Year 8 Pastoral Snowdon, assistant Head of Year. that we knew! After an introduction, team, along with the Maths “The bottles of water were just a we were given groups, and headed The day ended with a plenary, where department, gave the year group small way of showing them they had off to our first activity.