JANUARY & FEBRUARY 2020 NEWSLETTER Message from the Principal It has been another busy and productive, stimulating and creative half term at The County High School, Leftwich. Students continue to embrace opportunities during timetabled lessons and beyond. As I visit classes and walk around school I continue to observe hardworking and thoughtful, imaginative and dedicated students, engaging with the learning opportunities their talented teachers have created for them. Beyond the timetable, enrichment activities continue to thrive Principal and more students than ever are developing their knowledge Mr M Snelson and skills, character, creativity, and imagination. Year 11 are coming towards the end of their Student Tracking 2 exams, a final chance to hone their exams skills, celebrate what they know and identify the gaps in their knowledge they need to fill before the external GCSE exams in May. It has been reassuring to see students fully engage in the intervention activities provided for them and the mature manner they are approaching the final straight of their GCSE courses. Students of all year groups have the opportunity to continue learning independently outside of lessons. This may be: formal homework activities set by teachers; by reading to learn more and for pleasure, which is proven to improve attainment in all subjects and/or by completing tasks on one of our online platforms, such as SAM Learning, which has tasks for all subjects, which students can access 24/7 and receive instant feedback from. I would appreciate it if parents/carers would encourage their children to engage in these activities. Thank you to the many, many parents/carers who attended Consultation Day on Friday 24th January. It was a fantastic opportunity for students, Tutors and parents/carers to reflect on how the year has gone so far and to plan for even more success during the second half of the year. The positive comments I received about the day and in particular about how well Tutors know and understand students and what they need to do to progress academically and socially were much appreciated and have been passed onto them. Friday 10th January was our first Duke of Edinburgh Awards Evening. Thirty-two Year 11 students have demonstrated their commitment and resilience by achieving the Bronze award and it was wonderful to be with their families as they were presented with their certificates. Thank you to Hayley White, a local ultra-athlete, for her inspirational, informative and entertaining presentation. Thank you also to all the colleagues involved in supporting the Duke of Edinburgh Award, most notably Mrs Wells, Mrs Jones, Miss Lamb and Mr Malam. On the evening, I challenged Year 11 students to go on to achieve the Silver and Gold Awards and to ensure the next time they received certificates in the Hall, the GCSE grades on them reflect their The County High School, Leftwich academic potential. I hope that you all have a relaxing half term break and I look forward to welcoming students back to school on Tuesday 25th February, and for students to continue to develop their academic ability, whilst enjoying their time at The County High School, Leftwich. LIBRARY NEWS Congratulations to 7 Armstrong, 8 Hatchmere and 9 Livingstone for winning the highest Tutor Group word counts for their year groups during the Autumn Term:- 7 Armstrong - 11,492,714 8 Hatchmere - 5,184,449 9 Livingstone - 5,447,901 The winning Tutor Groups received a certificate, a trophy and a large box of biscuits. Also, well done to the seventeen students, who have already achieved their Gold Accelerated Reader certificate and gained entry onto the Reading Millionaires board in the Library - these students have each read over a million words since the start of the academic year. Mrs Allen Librarian DofE PRESENTATION On Friday 10th January, we had our giving them opportunities and skills very first Duke of Edinburgh that will help them in the future both presentation evening. Setting up and in job opportunities as well organising this award in school for the as character development and past 8 years - It has always been an personal resilience. event I have wanted to take place. However, this year group has been the Well done Year 11, it was a very first where 32/34 participants had proud moment for myself, as well as completed the award in amazing for all of you. time. So we set out to organise an evening I hoped they would Mrs Wells remember. DofE Co-ordinator Hayley White, our local ULTRA athlete, was our fantastic guest speaker. Hayley inspired the whole audience with her own personal drive and ULTRA race stories, especially to the Arctic Circle. Each of our students gained their bronze award certificate and pin badge making them unique and FLUTE GROUP On Tuesday 17th December, Flute “Hark the Herald”, Deck the Halls” Group, accompanied by Mrs Moss & and “Silent Night” and clapped Miss O’Brien, paid their annual visit to along with great enthusiasm to Davenham Day Care Centre to songs such as “Jingle Bell Rock”, perform carols and Christmas songs Frosty the Snowman” and” I wish it for the clients there after they had could be Christmas every day”. It eaten their Christmas lunch. was lovely to see everyone enjoying Christmas music can always be heard themselves so much. A request has around the music department from been made for the flutes to visit October so there were plenty of tunes again later in the year. to choose from. The staff and clients enjoyed singing along to favourite Mrs Moss carols such as “Away in a Manger”, Peripatetic Teacher SALE SHARKS team work and confidence to name a few. In May, these students will be attending a premiership game against Saracens as well as taking part in not only a mixed ability festival but also a parade around the pitch at half time. I have been able to go and watch some of these coaching sessions For the past 6 weeks, we have had and have seen some of the some excellent coaches from the students excel in these conditions Premiership rugby union team Sale not only their rugby skills but also Sharks in school. They have been really showing what they are made coaching some handpicked of. students from years 9 and 10 working on skills like: hand/eye coordination, Mrs Wells touch passes, communication, Second in Learning Support CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY Cambridge University came to speak to a group of Year 11 students about the advantages and application process for Cambridge University! Students left motivated and inspired to reach their full potential. Mr Kinder Learning Leader: Careers HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY The 27th January 2020 marked the 75th During assemblies, students were anniversary of the liberation of learning about the impact of Auschwitz-Birkenau, one of the death modern-day prejudice and camps used by the Nazi regime to discrimination such as racism, persecute Jewish people, Roma Islamophobia and homophobia. people, and people with a disability, They were also encouraged to black people and homosexuals. It is discuss this further during their estimated that of the 1.3 million people character development sessions, sent to Auschwitz, 1.1 million died. where year 7 and year 8 completed Those not gassed died of starvation, a philosophy for children session, exhaustion, disease or beatings. discussing artefacts that survived the holocaust, and what story’s they had to tell. At the County High School, we These platforms offered honoured holocaust Memorial Day in a opportunities for County High School number of ways. On the 27th January students to learn new knowledge, we used our EFL lessons to learn about and build on their skills of empathy some of the individuals who were persecuted by the Nazis and survived and tolerance. They were to tell the tale. We heard about their encouraged to be creative through horrific experiences and how they the use of art, poetry and music. found the strength to repair their They strengthened their character broken mind, body and soul after by using their communication and experiencing such atrocities. Susan leadership skills through group work. Pollack, a holocaust survivor, said “Life The theme for holocaust Memorial is precious-you can go in one of two Day 2020 was stand together, and ways- up or down. I chose to walk that is exactly what we did at The away and rebuild my life. There was no County High School. revenge, and no justice”. During the weeks leading up to the 27th January staff at the County High School were using various platforms to give our students the opportunities to learn about, and from the holocaust. ROTARY YOUNG CHEF Harriet Garner and Lily Darley took part in the Rotary District Young Chef Final at Coleg Cambria College. Both students prepared a three course dinner using professional cooking equipment alongside other students from around the North West. Harriet and Lily both worked diligently throughout the afternoon to prepare these outstanding courses, Harriet and Lily both received a which were judged by professional certificate and recipe book for taking part in the competition. chefs. Both have said they really enjoyed the experience. Miss Fullwood, Teacher of D & T ANNE FRANK TRUST WORKSHOPS Leading up to Holocaust Memorial Day, The County High School Leftwich were given a fantastic opportunity to have another visit from the Anne Frank Trust. Jonathon McKee from the trust came into school to run the ‘Free To Be’ workshops. During which, he used the story of, and words of, Anne Frank to support discussions about This was a very modern day prejudice and successful day, which discrimination. Students involved created a real buzz in were faced with some shocking school.