The Update The Axe Valley Community College Newsletter: Friday 21st November 2014 - Issue 5 Head teacher’s message Construction of the AGP is due to start next week which is fantastic news. The builders are aiming to complete the project by March 2015. Disruption to the normal day-to-day running of the college should be minimal, although there will be less field space for students to use during PE lessons. In addition to the new AGP, the college will be improving existing field facilities such as the long jump, discus and rugby / football pitches. It is inspiring to see the wealth of extra curricular activities celebrated in each issue of The Update. I am extremely grateful to the staff who are so Students at the Devon Ability Games committed to providing these fantastic opportunities to our students. Congratulations to all the students on their superb achievements. Diary Dates: 24th Nov - REACH Study Skills Tutorials Parents and carers will be aware that on Wednesday 26th Nov - Primary Technology Day 21st November we had an incident at lunchtime involving two young men throwing ‘bangers’ from 27th Nov - ASPIRE/REACH visit to Supacat the Youth Centre towards the tennis courts and 1st Dec - Start of Year 11 Mock exams flamingo car park. Police were called and are now 2nd & 9th Dec - REACH induction events dealing with the people responsible. The incident is 4th Dec - Sixth Form Parents Evening believed to part of a wider series of anti-social 10th Dec - Year 9 Parent’s Evening incidents in the town in recent weeks. We take safety of our students very seriously. I have allocated 17th Dec - Carol Concert additional staff to supervise the area by the car park. 19th Dec - Last day of term Longer term, we have a plan linked to the AGP build, to increase site security by full separating public access from student areas. On a separate but related note, please could I remind parents and carers that all visitors to college must report to reception and sign in. While we will always try to accommodate parents who turn up without an appointment, wishing to see a member of staff, it is not always possible, especially if the person is teaching. Wherever possible, we advise parents and carers to contact college and request a meeting. Thank you to all the parents, carers and students who attended last week’s Sixth Form Open Evening. We had superb feedback from students who thoroughly enjoyed their taster day experience. Martin Smith- Head teacher 1 Student News Remembrance Day Children in Need Our Remembrance Day service was held A lot of fun was had on Friday 14th. The main in the playground with the whole school event was a cup cake decorating competition. present. It was a solemn moment when There were many outstanding entries and it Mr Jevons played the Last Post on the was very hard to decide but joint first place cornet, a firework blast signified the start went to Helga Hofrate and Kimberley Wood, and the end of the two minutes silence as we both from 7MBR, third place went to Enjiely all remembered those who had lost their lives Durias and fourth place went to Chloe Mardell, serving for their country . both from 8MG. In the Learning Resource Centre we remem- Mrs Roberts made and sold Pudsey badges and bered with a special display and a leaflet in- some teachers dressed up as Superheros to add forming the students of the facts behind this to the funds raised from the cupcake competi- important day. Mrs Roberts also made some tion. Overall £134.58 was raised. Thank you to knitted poppies which were sold to raise money all those who took part and to those who for the British Legion. helped. The students took part in a Remembrance po- em competition. Equal winners of the competi- tion were Louise Tyne of 7 RS and Josh Butler of 8TM. Congratulations to you both and for the efforts for those that took part. Other activities included a workshop where the students could make poppies and bookmarks and also spend time writing their poems. A total of £109.72 was raised through the sale of poppies for the Poppy Appeal. 2 Devon Ability Games The Devon Ability Games is a huge event held every year in Barnstable. It is designed to en- courage students who would not usually com- pete for their school in sport. There is a huge range of sports to compete in, the students are encouraged to be determined and compete with the same values as the athletes in the Olympics. The Axe Valley students excelled and were a credit to themselves and our school. I was very proud of them all. Here are a few In the rowing event I got a Gold medal. It was an amazing day! Morgan Walton - 7NC comments from them on the day. Miss J Stockton - PE Department I had an amazing time at the Devon ability games in Barnstaple. Peter Waterfield was there, he dived alongside Tom Daley in the London Olympics, they My day was amazing! I chose indoor rowing and in were the team GB divers. my first heat I got first place! My legs were aching st from all the pulling and pushing but I felt very proud I came 1 place in my first rowing race. I was in a of myself and the team. Ben Churchill - 7DW disabled chair which helped my back so I could push incredibly hard. Josh d’Albertanson - 9EMC We met Lenny the Lion, he was so cool, friendly, funny, fluffy, cuddly, cute and nice! He is the mascot at the games and he was walking round the pitch, all of us really loved him especially when he gave us hugs. Liberty Widger - 7DW I chose tennis at the games and Axe Valley tennis went into the semi-finals! We came 2nd place and we all got medals, I was also awarded a 2nd medal for spirit of games self-belief! Thank you Miss Stock- ton for inviting us to be part of such a lovely group. Jamie-Leigh Parfitt 7NC 3 NEC Skills Show 50 students from Years 10, 11 and Sixth form travelled to the NEC in Birmingham last week to attend the Skills Show. A vast range of careers were represented providing visitors with an incredible range of informative and interactive stands. Many areas included the final heats of practical competitions, such as stage make-up, hairdressing, welding, roofing, jewellery making, catering to name just a few. This gave our students a privileged view of the incredible and achievable standard of actual skills of the highest performing apprentices and students in the country. Of particular interest to some students in our group was the BBC stand, complete with tardis and dalecks! If special effects and CGI are your thing, then this stand was the one to visit. “Mindball” was also mentioned by quite a few of our Sixth Form—where metal balls could be moved purely by brainwaves! There was something to inspire and entertain everyone - Dudley College put on fantastic dance displays on the main stage. For those interested in forensics, there were crime scenes to be investigated. Scientists could participate in experimental work and theatre, stage and TV demonstrated prosthetics. “I have my heart set on being a mid-wife, but seeing the catering students cook was so inspiring I might look into doing that instead. It gave me lots of ideas for my Food Tech project” Shannon Broadhurst 11NG 4 Sixth Form News Sixth Form Taster Day and Convention Year 11 had a taste of 6th Form life last week. AS Product Design Trip to London In the day they were able to sample A level les- The AS Product Designers had a great day in sons and use the 6th Form Common Room and London visiting a number of galleries to broad- in the evening they attended with parents to en their knowledge base and generate research discuss options with subject teachers. material for their design portfolios. This ena- The event was a big success and had a positive bled them to explore many aspects of the visu- feel. Special thanks go to our current Year 12 al arts across Fine Art, textiles, fashion and of and Year 13 subject ambassadors who took an course Product Design. active role in the evening. We visited the Design Museum, The Tate Mod- ern, and the Victoria and Albert Museum where we looked at a range of different prod- ucts such as fashion, furniture, jewellery and art. One of the most interesting parts of the day was the top floor of the V&A museum . A range of furniture was exhibited with details of how it was made. You could handle and feel the ma- terial sand there was a sensor that triggered an explanation of the product on display. 5 Philosophy and Economics Year 12 - Music Technology Trip to London 35 students and 3 teachers from St Mary's Pri- 27 students attended the mary School came down this morning during ISOS Adam Smith Student period one to record them singing 'Christmas Conference on the 18th Candle'. The year 12 Music Technology class November. Philosophy and helped Irve Griffiths to set up the microphones Economics students lis- and cables before the St Mary's students ar- tened to a range of presen- rived. The recording studio was too small for so tations on the living wage, many people, so we ran cables from the main civil liberties and policies to room in B2 down the corridor to the studio, make us happier.