Samuel Ward Academy
LATEST NEWS
Issue 14
Jan-March ‘15
ACTING EXCELLENCE
DRAMA MADNESS
Our House (Mar 2015)
Too Much Punch for Judy (Jan 2015)
M
arch saw our students perform the hit musical OUR HOUSE, featuring the music of Madness. Carrying on the Samuel Ward tradition, the performance was bigger and better than ever before, with fantastic lead performances from Jess Bush and Ben Jordan from cast A, and Megan Sentance and Jason Carpenter from cast B. The ensemble performed with relentless, west-end style enthusiasm throughout the week of shows, truly making it a memorable part of Samuel Ward drama history!
TOO MUCH PUNCH!
T
he Year 11 cast of ‘Too Much Punch for Judy’ received a visit from the writer of the play, Mark Wheeler. Wheeler coached the students on performance techniques as well as offering the students a chance to ask questions and learn about the processes that take place between script and performance! A wonderful opportunity for both student and audience.
Our House (Mar 2015)
Our House (Mar 2015)
LEARNING WITHOUT LIMITS - A VISIT FROM DAME ALISON PEACOCK
D
ame Alison Peacock, Executive Head Teacher at The Wroxham School, visited Samuel Ward to talk to local primary head teachers on the importance of practitioner research and using evidence to inform practice. She shared her ideas about life after levels, as well as her experience of co-authoring Creating Learning without Limits, the result of many years work on a partnership research project with the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge.
SPORTS NEWS SWIMMING FESTIVAL
S
amuel Ward students took place in the Forest Heath inter-school Swimming Festival, coming first place in the U13 Mixed Team event! Our winning team included students Ben Quick (Captain), Thomas Lappin, Ellen-Louise Crouch, Kayleigh Hounsell, Alisa Eshelby, Molly Peacock, Isabelle Mealing and Thomas Kenning.
I
n other sports news, our Year 7 Rugby team finished runners up out of 14 schools in the western area competition, progressing on to represent the area at the County finals in March. This was a fantastic effort by the team, and for the majority it was their first experience of playing competitive rugby. They did not lose a game, and drew with the winning team, only finishing runner up due to scoring two less tries in the tournament. Among all of the standout performances on the day, Harry Cooper played exceptionally well, and was an outstanding captain; leading and organising those who had not played before. The 6th Form football team had a tough 1-1 draw with Wymondham College from Norwich, following on from a good 3-2 win away at Northgate the previous week. This allowed them to take their well-deserved place at the top of the East Anglian Schools League!
SPELLING BEE SUCCESS!
S
ixteen year 7 students made it to the second round of a national French spelling bee competition, which was held in school. Four students, Amber Howard, Neve Hopkins, Jennifer Coote and Matthew Venables then made it through to the Regional finals! All four did excellently well in a difficult round, each scoring their own individual best scores. It wasn’t quite enough to get through to the Nationals but they were all outstanding, and still in the the top 140 out of 8,900 entrants! Foreign Language Spelling Bee is a competition for students in Year 7 to practise and improve their vocabulary, spelling and memory skills in a foreign language (French, German or Spanish).
ENTERPRISE PROJECT LAUNCHED!
WORLD BOOK DAY!
S F
orty Students from Castle Manor Academy and Samuel Ward Academy launched a sustainable enterprise project. Students from both schools were tasked with starting their own business in a ONE Haverhill enterprise challenge. The challenge was launched by ONE Haverhill Board Member and Chief Executive of MENTA, Alex Till at Haverhill Arts Centre in February, and aims to develop students team building, employability and entrepreneurial skills.
YEAR 11’s EXPLORE
PARIS S tudents from year 11 had the opportunity to attend a day trip to Paris - luck was on their side, as the sun shined all day!
amuel Ward celebrated World Book day by staging a mass read-in during meeting time! In addition, form 8.7 created a World Book Day track, sung beautifully by Emily Goodwin and edited by Ellie Rodwell. Students all had the chance to receive a free book, or take a £1 token to redeem outside of school.