BENTON PARK SCHOOL CREATING A CLIMATE FOR GREAT LEARNING, SUCCESS AND OPPORTUNITY DECEMBER NEWSLETTER Headteachers’ Column As we reach the end of a very busy term we the learning experience for our students, either would like to thank you for your continued as teachers or as valued members of our support in ensuring your child is ready and support team. We wish them well in their new prepared for their school day. ventures. As always this newsletter highlights some of the As you are aware we continue to work hard to excellent activities that are going on throughout maintain and improve our learning environment. the school. The range of opportunities is We regularly meet with the Local Authority to invaluable in ensuring students develop not just improve aspects of the building and ensure that academically but personally too. We continue Health and Safety, for all, is paramount. We are to develop our programme of enrichment across continually pushing for capital investment in our the faculties and would welcome any feedback buildings and are hopeful that this will be fruitful from parents and carers on any aspects of our in the coming months. We look forward to wel- extra-curricular work. It is great to see our new coming Dawn Harding in January as our new Drama Studio being put to excellent use beyond Facilities and Health and Safety Manager. the school day. We ask you to encourage your Dawn joins us with a wealth of experience in a child to take part in as many aspects of school similar role from another school. life as they can. We would like to remind you that we have a 4pm bus that goes via, We would just like to wish you all a very happy Greengates, Calverley and Stanningley for Christmas and we look forward to working with students who are staying for extra-curricular you to ensure your child reaches their potential events or intervention session. We would like to in 2016. thank all staff and students involved in these excellent additions to school life. Delia Martin and Steve Dixon We would like to say a huge thank you and Co-Headteachers goodbye to staff who are leaving us this Christmas. Mr Scarlett and Mrs Elmsley have supported the students of our school and we thank them for all their work over the years. Mr Fleming, Director of Performing Arts, who has worked tirelessly to put Drama back onto the Benton Park curriculum, leaves us to start a new life in Australia and we wish him all the best in this new and exciting adventure. Mrs McKenzie, Director of Science who is going to be leading the Science Department at Ilkely Grammar School and we wish her well in her new role. We would like to thank all of them for their hard work and commitment to improving Faculty of Maths and ICT UKMT Senior Team Maths Challenge The STMC is a competition testing mathematical, communication and teamwork skills. Students compete against teams from other schools and colleges from their region, completing extremely challenging Maths problems against the clock. The competition was held at Leeds University on the 19th November and comprised of three .UK Mathematics Trust Senior Mathematical rounds; a Group Round, a Challenge 2015 Crossnumber and a Shuttle. Congratulations to Benton Park’s The UKMT Senior Maths Challenge is aimed at all 16-19 year Team of Oliver Welsh Year 13, Seb olds studying Maths. The challenge involves 25 multiple Shannon Year 13, Ethan Higgott choice questions and is sat under normal exam conditions. Year 12 and Elisei Ulrich-Oltean th The top 10% of students nationally receive a Gold award, the Year 11, finishing 8 out of 19 next 20% Silver and the next 30 % Bronze. schools from the region. The Challenge was taken on 5th November 2015, Oliver Welsh Glen Taylor and Jeremy Naylor– Wardle achieved Gold, Seb Shannon, Teacher of Maths Heather Hudson, Isabel Barber, Shannon Addy, Chris Hulley and Elisei Ulrich-Oltean achieved Silver and Philip Liu, Lianna Spalding, Joshua Parker, George Cliffe, Jemma Woodcock, Georgina Bennett, George Harvey, Ethan Higgott, Thomas Willoughby and Andreas Marshall achieved Bronze. Congratulations to all students who took part and particularly those who achieved an award. Oliver Welsh qualified for the British Mathematical Olympiad, the top one thousand students in the country. Jeremy Naylor-Wardle qualified for the Senior Kangaroo Mathematical Challenge, the top three thousand students in the country. Well done to all students involved. Maths Challenge Important Dates for your Diary. W/c 11th January: Year 8 Assessment Week Wednesday 13th January: Friends of Benton Park Meet- ing Thursday 14th January: Parent Forum 6pm W/c 18th January: Year 7 Assessment Week Faculty of Science Monday 18th January: This term has been an exciting one for Science, not only have we Year 13 Parents’ Evening seen our numbers in Geek Club increase to around fifty pupils from Year 8 to Year 12, as well an increase in our Year 7 Science Club Thursday 28th January: numbers, we have also had some interesting trips and visits. Enrichment Day On the 21st October John Warrick from the skin research company Wednesday 3rd February: Innovenn came into school to deliver a presentation on the Year 8 Parents’ Evening structure of skin and the use of skin models to Year 12 pupils and Year 11 members of Geek Club. Thursday 4th February: On December 3rd thirty nine Year 10 and Year 11 students went to SLT Parent Drop-In 4.30pm - Leeds Town Hall for ‘Science Live’. A number of Scientists, 6.30pm including Robert Winston, discussed their career and scientific works. Students attended a talk from the Chief Examiner for Sci- W/c 8th February: ence from the AQA exam board who gave students tips and advice Year 9 Assessment Week on their GCSE examinations. We look forward to more exciting events in 2016! Hannah McKenzie Director of Science Faculty of Social Sciences Business Studies Everyday Money- Finance Education at Benton Park Finance education is one of the key skills our students are develop- ing as part of our PSHE curriculum here at Benton Park School. Our Year 11 students enjoyed a visit from more than thirty RSP Synagogue Visits volunteers from Legal & General and Leeds Building Society, who gave up a day of their time to coach students from Year 11 about Year 12 students money. from Benton Park and Hors- forth School enjoyed a visit to The students had a fantastic day working with financial two local synagogues as part professionals completing a range of tasks to educate them about of their AS Level Religious earning, spending and saving money. There were prize draws throughout the day and our students thoroughly enjoyed this Studies course. They were opportunity. given a tour of both an Orthodox synagogue and a Reformed synagogue. This Debbie Jackson, Director Partnerships, Legal & General, said: really made their learning of “What a fabulous opportunity to work with the young adults from Judaism 'come Benton Park, helping them understand the financial challenges and alive'. Students asked a opportunities ahead of them when they enter the work place. The range of challenging students put a lot of effort into a very thought-provoking day around questions, including asking earning money, spending and saving choices. It was good to see the Rabbi of the Reformed how highly they rated their knowledge at the end of the day synagogue why he believed compared to the beginning, hopefully they’ll take this knowledge to in God despite the atrocities help them in the future. Benton Park are clearly committed to of the Holocaust. A very preparing students for adult life and it’s great that we could play a interesting and enjoyable day part in this.” out! Trevor Garside, Head of Direct Distribution, Leeds Building So- Rachel Garthwaite ciety, said: “I thought the day was a great success with our colleagues getting as much value from the day as the students did. It was an interesting and rewarding day in which some often-complex Health and Social Care Visit concepts were delivered in a way which was more easily The year 12 Health and understood by the students. This was more than confirmed at the end of the day by their answers during the final exercise and their Social Care students baked own rating of their new knowledge.” cakes and delivered them to a local care home they also A huge thank you to all the external visitors involved, the fantastic sang carols and organised a efforts of our Year 11 students and all the Benton Park staff game of bingo. This was a involved in the day. great success and all con- cerned had a fabulous time. Charles Briggs Leader of Business Studies Sarah Scarlett Director of Social Studies Faculty of Humanities What our students thought…. "It was educational and fun. It opened my eyes to the true conditions of the Holocaust." Harry Pilling "We got a better understanding about the way of life in Nazi Germany."Lavar Holmes "Helps to gain new knowledge and understand different peoples' opinions." Danny Taylor "Helps me understand different elements of our History topic" Becky Wakefield Year 11 Historians enjoying an evening visit to the Brandenburg Gate History trip to Berlin Geographers on Tour! Forty-two Year 11 GCSE history It has been a busy term for geographical visits. The Year 13 students took an educational trip to Geography students went on a residential to Manchester in Berlin to focus on aspects of The October to research urban regeneration and gentrifica- Third Reich and The Cold War.