A weekly newsletter for students, parents, carers, families and friends of Wellsway School THE AMMONITE www.wellswayschool.com th Student absence line 0117 9161030 Issue 939 20 September 2019 Dates for the Diary Parent, Carer and Student ‘Need to Know’ Dates Year Activity Date Start Time and Venue For All Year 6 Open Evening 26th September 6pm – 8pm 7 Year 7 Team Building Day 20th September Wild Place Bristol Parents’ Numeracy & Literacy Evening 3rd October 6.00pm-7.00pm Lansdown Hall 8 9 10 11 Sixth Form Open Evening 10th October 6.00pm – 8.00pm This week’s weather really has shown the school site at its best and it’s been wonderful to welcome a number of visitors to the school with the sun shining. As some parents will know, we have been working on developing some displays across the school and have had some new visuals put up along the science corridor that have injected some new life into the area. On this note, we are more than aware that we still have some work to do with reducing the amount of litter on the school site. To support this, we have had some new bright red bins installed and are working on a Litter and Recycling Strategy which we will be involving staff and students in across this term. We have also been looking at revamping our Student Leadership, alongside expanding our extra-curricular offer, and we look forward to speaking to students about these opportunities across the year as they develop. One real success that I am extremely proud of is how many students have been involved in Duke of Edinburgh since its launch two years ago. We will be launching both Bronze and Silver DofE with students and parents this term as well as trying to get a Trust Ten Tors team established – and I encourage as many students as possible to get themselves involved with this. Matthew Woodville Principal School News Homework Homework will be set by teachers using the Insight portal. To help students manage their workload, it is recommended that students aim to complete their homework following the schedules on the links below (taken from the school website). Year 7 Homework 2019/2020 Key Stage 4 Homework 2019/2020 Lost property A ring was found on school property at the end of term 6. If this is yours, please can you contact [email protected] with a description of it and where you may have lost it, so we can return it to its rightful owner! Thank you. Positive feedback from the community A taxi driver from Bath telephoned to commend our students who were riding bikes home to Saltford. She was driving back to Bath and noticed that all of our students were wearing helmets and riding sensibly along the wide pavement. It was nice to receive such positive feedback this week regarding our students. Well done for setting a good example for the school and to other road users. Year 7 Numeracy and Literacy Evening – 3rd October Please click on this link to view the Invite letter to our Numeracy and Literacy evening. Year 7 Literacy and Numeracy letter We really encourage you to attend. There will be a presentation by English and mathematics teachers in which they will provide essential information about how we teach and assess literacy and numeracy. Advice will be given about supporting your child with his or her learning. This will include guidance relating to work completed independently as part of homework activities. Either print off the reply slip and return to Student Support or email [email protected] Lockers We have now allocated a large number of lockers to students in all year groups. For Year 7 students who have not yet received a locker, tutors will let you as your timeslot is allocated. Remember, if you have applied for a locker should make sure you have a padlock in school next week. Padlocks can be key or combination and need to be medium-sized, not those used on suitcases. There are still a number of people who have applied for a locker and not yet made online payment. If you need your link code in order to set up your online payments, please contact the Finance team [email protected]. If you are unsure if you have already paid, you will be able to check if there is a locker charge outstanding in your online payment account. Again, if you are in Years 8 - 11 and wish to use a locker, students may come to see me in my office (opposite L15) before school any day (except Monday) next week. Mrs Rogers Green Team Please see below for two events for the Green Team, other wildlife enthusiasts and their families: River Dipping: Dapps Hill Bridge. Sunday 29th September, 2 - 5 pm. Wear wellies! Not suitable for U-5’s. Annual survey of animals in the river. £1 voluntary donation. Talk on Wildlife of the Galápagos Islands: Baptist Church Hall, Keynsham. Friday 11th October. 7pm for 7.30pm start. Adults £2.50, U-16’s £1, pay on the door. Refreshments, wildlife goods for sale at the interval. Families welcome to both events! Mr Sage Sixth Form th Sixth Form Open Evening - Thursday 10 October We are very much looking forward to welcoming you to our Sixth Form Open evening on Thursday 10th October, from 6 - 8pm. You are invited to come along to talk with our team leaders, subject specialists and current Sixth Form students to find out more about Wellsway Sixth Form and the subjects, enrichment opportunities and support we offer here. There will also be a careers advisor on hand, and two talks from Mr Bray, our Director of Sixth Form, at 6.15pm and 6.45pm, in Lansdown Hall. We think we have much to offer you. This year students have progressed on to a wide range of fantastic opportunities including university, Higher Apprenticeships and employment, in sectors ranging from Computing to Sport to Business to Education to the Creative Arts to Medicine (and many, many more!). We hope you can join us on Wednesday for what is an important evening for Year 11 students on their educational Careers News journey through Wellsway. Sixth Form in CERN Year 13 students enjoyed an amazing trip to CERN last weekend, getting to see the LHC particle accelerator, ground- breaking experiments, and much more. A full write up will be in the first Sixth Form newsletter of the year in October! Access to Bristol and On Track to Bath We have some great links with universities. These two schemes involve students experiencing the university environment regularly throughout the year through workshops, lectures and much more for a wide variety of subjects. Fantastic preparation for anyone thinking of applying to university. These are highly competitive courses and we have a great track record of successful placements. Access to Bristol application deadline is 27th September – apply here. On Track to Bath application deadline is December – but get working on it now so that your application is as strong as possible! Bursary Award - Sixth Form We are still accepting applications for the Sixth Form Bursary Awards for 2019-20 from all students. The explanatory information surrounding the awards, together with an application form is linked below, and can be found outside Mrs Turner’s office. Please note that any students that received an award in Year 12 must re-apply for one in Year 13.The application deadline is Friday 27th September. Sixth Form Bursary Award 2019 - 2020 School Visits Sixth Form Cambridge Residential Trip This week some of our Year 12 students were taken on a fantastic two day residential course to Cambridge University to sample lectures, speak to staff, get involved in projects, and look around the university and experience some of what the town had to offer. A fantastic way to see what the future may hold! Careers News Performing Arts Music A reminder regarding rehearsals taking place after school next week. Monday Choir with Bella Finch, 3.15pm-4.15pm, Drama Studio. Everyone welcome. Tuesday Drumming Club with Justin Fellows 3.15pm -3.45pm. A club for anyone who wants to hit a drum! No experience required! Wednesday Soul and Funk Band in M03 with Ms McLean 3.15pm – 4.15pm. Open to brass and wind players. Ms McLean Lord of the Flies Thank you to everyone who auditioned for Lord of the Flies this week. We were so impressed with everyone and can't wait to start rehearsals. The cast list and rehearsal schedule will be up outside the performing arts office at the start of next week! Miss Coles Careers News Sport Wellsway Year 7 Netball Team On Wednesday this week, thirteen Year 7 Netball players travelled to Oldfield School to play in a triangular fixture against Oldfield and Broadlands. There was great excitement as they travelled with three older teams on the coach. On arrival the girls warmed up and were given their positions. They have only had one training session together so far, so everyone felt nervous as we waited to play. Our first game was against Oldfield with Ella M captaining the team. The girls worked very hard, passing the ball accurately and defending tightly. However Oldfield had two excellent (and very tall!) players who dominated the game and the final score was a 3-8 defeat to Wellsway. Player of the game: Amelia B. In the second game against Broadlands we started strongly and began to play really well as a team. The passing speed down the court improved and our shooters shot brilliantly.