ASA TODAY - Issue 19, Term 4

The Big Apple

Red Nose Day

Jet set sixth formers on New York business trip

Find out how much ASA raised in aid of Comic Relief.

Comic Relief Page 3

Sixth Form Page 8 & 9

ASA TODAY

Issue 19, Term 4, 2013

The All Saints’ Academy Newspaper

www.asachelt.org

Young Enterprise Team win Love to Shop Award

By Miss Skelding

PR & Communications Manager ASA won Young Enterprise Retailer of the Year at the Gloucestershire Echo’s Love to Shop Awards 2013 All Saints’Academy set up a stall in the Regent Arcade on 12th February along with 5 other schools. The Sixth Form group, named Elite, developed two products: the Socky and Friends sock puppet making kit, and a make-your-own-bunting kit.

All Saints’ Academy Young Enterprise group ‘Elite’ had been shortlisted to the final out of 6 other schools to scoop the prize. The finalists were St. Edwards, Sir Thomas Rich’s and All Saints’ Academy.

The all girl group sat and waited nervously for the winner to be announced. When All Saints’ Academy’s name was called out the students were in shock, Principal Peter Kingham urged them to stand up and collect their award.

They were all so excited and they said it would be a moment they would never forget. For two students in particular it was a very special occasion as it was also their 17th birthday. Melanie Townsend said ‘it was amazing to win the award on my birthday.’ It was a brilliant night that recognised the young students’ work. The students went around to tables selling their products and it was heart warming to see the positive responses they recieved.

Business Studies teacher and Head of Health & Social Care Miss Ball said ‘I am so proud of the stu-

dents; what a great achievement. All of their time and effort has paid off.’

Throughout the night the three Young Enterprise teams were asked to set up stalls to sell their goods at the back of the hall. Retailers at the Awards Ceremony were encouraged to go and look at the students’ products.

The All Saints’ Academy stand attracted a lot of attention. Customers included the Mayor of Cheltenham, Colin Hay.

Regent Arcade management commended the All Saints’ students for visiting tables and selling their products. The ‘Elite’ team has been offered the chance to go back to Regent Arcade to sell their products again in the next couple of months.

Head of Business and Assistant Director of Sixth Form Mr Kelly commented ‘They really have excelled in making a brilliant product. The girls have worked very hard and it is certainly evident in their product and salesmanship.’

Principal Peter Kingham commented ‘I am a very proud Principal.

Here we are in front of the great and good of Cheltenham and All Saints’ Academy students have won first prize!’

The Young Enterprise group Elite’s mission statement is to ‘bring families together and hope to mend a lost connection between adults and children through encouraging fun arts and crafts activities to engage in together.’

For more information and student perspectives on Elite’s victory turn to page 6

STUDENT REVIEW DAY Wednesday 10th April We had a fantastic turn out at the last SRD in November. We are aiming for 100% attendance this time with every parent or career attending.

Appointment times will be posted to parents and carers. In the meantime, please add this date to your diary.

Victory: The winning Young Enterprise team proudly holding their ‘Love to Shop’ Award.

Top row, left to right: Ciara Kennedy, Amy Rushby, Elisha Bartley, Lilly McRoberts, Charlotte Davies. Bottom row, left to right: Helena Bevan, Evie Townsend, Bryony Hopkins & Lucie Jelfs

Issue 19, Term 4, 2013 Miss Skelding

PR & Communications Manager

EDITORIAL www.asachelt.org

Church sponsored, Christian ethos

Chief Editor for ASA Today

By Mr Kingham Principal

Mr Hamilton

Reprographics & ICT Technician Editor for ASA Today

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the fantastic responses to our first ASA Today last term.

It has been a very busy term which is why this newspaper is slightly bigger than the last.

Since the last edition of ASA Today we have recruited some new student reporters which we are very happy to have writing for us.

If any students are interested in writing an article for our next publication come to see either of us in Reprographics.

In the next edition of ASA Today expect even more student reports and possibly a review page, watch this space.

Above: Jackson French & Tyrana Patterson enjoy their first issue of ASA Today

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What is a Church - Faith - Anglican – Catholic Christian school all about?

ASA is unique in Gloucestershire. We are a church sponsored Academy, and not just by one church but two Christian traditions – Anglican & Catholic.

But what difference does it make?

Our values (love, peace, justice, respect, reconciliation and service to others) all come from and link to the Bible and in particular the gospels. The values show who we are and what we are!

We have three chaplains at ASA representing the two traditions. Not many schools have any Chaplains. We have a Catholic lay chaplain, an Anglican vicar and a member of staff who works part time as a 6th form chaplain. Our Chaplains provide worship, prayer, time and a listening ear and lots of advice.

We have meaningful collective worship as an Academy, in Houses and in House tutor groups, where we experience awe and wonder, Gospel values and prayer.

What do we hope each child will experience

from being in a Church school?

Church schools, whether Anglican, Roman Catholic or Joint, are here to help support Christian families bring up their child in the Christian faith.

Both Churches believe that Church Schools should be distinctive Christian institutions, grounded in the faith of the Church, where gospel values inform the life of the community.

They provide a caring, supportive environment where individual gifts & talents are recognised and nurtured.

By being at a Christian Academy sponsored by Anglican and Catholic diocese we hope every child will see and understand the world through the eyes of a Christian. We hope they will learn to understand how Jesus and Christianity unites the two churches but also that the differences in their teachings are respected and understood as well.

We teach our students to consider what Christianity means to them and to reflect on how faith affects the lives of believers.

Think: what does seeing and understanding the world as a Christian mean to me? How does it affect me?

Every student is encouraged to reflect and consider the BIG questions of life and how Christianity may help them ponder and debate the answers.

Vice Principal

Phone: 01242 711200 Absences: 01242 711203 Email: admin@asachelt.org www.asachelt.org www.facebook.com/asachelt www.twitter.com/asachelt

Not long ago we celebrated Christmas. Now we celebrate the second part of God’s Salvation Plan. This begins with Holy Week , which starts on Palm Sunday and finishes with the greatest Christian Festival – Easter.

As a Christian Academy, Easter is a very special time.

It is much more than Easter eggs it is about death and new life.

At Easter, the Christian church unites in remembering the death of its founder, Jesus Christ, and His resurrection.

Why is this important?

Jesus was perfect and as the Son of God, He chose to die. He did not have to.

Jesus chose to die to take the punishment that was due to everyone else.

Until Jesus died, the relationship between God and people was broken and Jesus’ death provided a bridge between God and mankind.

The fact that Jesus then rose from the dead shows God’s power over evil and demonstrates that we too can have a new life and that death is not the end.

So this Easter, remember Jesus died for you. Thank Him. Remember Jesus rose again and that

when we accept Jesus and all He has done for us, we too can have new life. Remember, and be comforted that death is not the end.

Here is a prayer you might like to say and reflect on this Easter time: Heavenly Father, you love us so much you sent your only Son to die on a cross for us. By His cross and Resurrection, you have broken the power of the Devil and claimed us for salvation. We place our hope and trust in you Lord, who are our Saviour.

Amen.

Above: A student placing a cross in the sand during the Lent service in RE

Focusing on Uniform

By Mrs Cummings

Address: Blaisdon Way Cheltenham Gloucestershire GL51 0WH

What about Easter?

Thanks to the support of our parents, students at All Saints’ Academy are amongst the smartest in Cheltenham. Visitors constantly remark on how striking our uniform is and how well the students wear it.

Staff work hard to ensure that we have consistent standards and always ensure that students are dressed correctly during Meet, Greet and Pray first thing in the morning. We have a zero tolerance approach to incorrect uniform because we believe that this allows students to know exactly what is expected.

“Girls’ trousers should be plain and neither too tight or too loose”

At the moment we are working with students and parents to ensure that everyone is clear about what are acceptable girls’ trousers. Some girls were choosing to wear very tight trousers and this does not fit our policy. Girls have been spoken to and letters have been sent out with a picture of the style of trousers that are acceptable. They should be totally plain and neither too tight or too loose. Some shops sell trousers described as ‘School Trousers’ that do not fit our policy. Parents who want to be sure they have correct trousers can choose to order them from our school supplier on the usual website and they cost £16-£18.

1.Trousers should be loose fitting but not too baggy 2.There will be no summer uniform, in hot weather, teachers may permit you take of your blazer 3. Uniform should reflect your pride in the Academy and meet ASA’s uniform policy

COMIC RELIEF

Issue 19, Term 4, 2013

www.asachelt.org

3

All Saints’ Academy raise £1,559

By Miss Skelding

PR & Communications Manager The week beginning 11th March saw ASA staff and students start to raise money for Comic Relief.

There were several activities run all week such as a ‘Chocolla’ raflle, cake sale, penalty shoot outs, staff bake off, nail painting and red nose sales.

A different staff member baked cakes each day of the week to sell to colleagues. The staff bake off raised £164.66 for Comic Relief.

Sixth Form student Jacob Turner raised money by shaving his hair off, having his legs waxed and his eyebrows plucked, all at the same time!

Jacob raised an impressive £330 for Comic Relief.

Students and staff were invited to come to school on Friday 15th March in fancy dress and onesies for the small donation of £1. There were some fantastic outfits and students and staff thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Staff also decided to ‘do something funny for money’. They dressed up (on World Book Day) and filmed their version of the ‘Harlem Shake’. On Red Nose Day we held a viewing for students for 50p. Students loved the video and it has now been uploaded to youtube and had a staggering amount of views already. As of 18th March we have had 2,802 views.

Students and staff that paid to come and see the ‘premiere’ raised £108 for Comic Relief. If you would like to watch our video please visit the following link: http://youtu.be/WasntPe1nuo

Sixth Form students are also planning a Comic Relief talent show for Thursday 21st March to add to our grand total of £1,559.

Above: Students gathered around Jacob having his hair shaved for charity

Above: 9WH all dressed up for Comic Relief

Above: Jacob getting into the spirit of Red Nose Day

Above: Some of the cakes and pastries on offer at the staff bake off

Above: Humanities & Languages staff dress up as Smurfs

Above: Megan & Emily as Pirates

Above: ASA Staff Harlem Shake

SPIRITUALITY

Issue 19, Term 4, 2013

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www.asachelt.org

Lent Services Student baptised in ASA Chapel

By Mrs Scarfe

Assistant Principal Spirituality & Ethos/RE During the Christian seasons of Advent and Lent every student at All Saints’ Academy visits the chapel for 20 minutes to experience a short reflection.

Lent is a time of preparation which leads up to the most important feast in the Christian calendar- the Passion and death of Jesus and his Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

This year, our short service allows some quiet time to think and reflect on the 40 days of Lent, when we remember Jesus being tempted in the desert. It offers the students an opportunity to take some time to look at themselves and how they live their lives. It

is pointed out that we are very good at seeing the failings in others, but often ignore or don’t recognise our own failings.

The story of Zacchaeus is shown and students are reminded how Jesus gave him a second chance. Each child takes a purple paper cross and is asked to reflect on some things that they might be tempted by or perhaps struggle with. They consider jealousy, stealing, anger, gossip, disrespect, lying, laziness, selfishness and bullying. They are then asked to stand their cross in a tray of sand and reflect on one of these things and if they wish, to pray to God for his help to deal with the problem.

Having reflected on the things they might need to change in their lives, opportunities are provided for all students to talk to a vicar or receive the sacrament of reconciliation from a Catholic priest during Lent if they wish.

Above: The student’s crosses in the sand

Family Space

By Mrs Spence

Roman Catholic Lay Chaplain Family Space is made up of four local churches in West Cheltenham and offers services to help families in the area.

• Befrienders Provides individual support in and around the home, to families referred by the local Children’s Centres and Health Visitors. This support can be about helping to develop home routines for children, going out shopping on a limited budget, attending school/hospital appointments, taking advantage of local services for families and/or coping with a new baby.

• Time Out for Mums: with crèche for 0-3’s Is a small group of Befriender parents who spend a morning each week on

learning skills relating to healthy living to benefit themselves and/or their children. They also engage in recreational craft activities that encourage self-confidence by doing things that previously seemed out of reach.

The group is supported by input from adult education tutors from Gloucestershire College and the children are looked after in our crèche.

• Cheltenham Child Contact Centre Each Saturday, a safe and neutral place is available for children to spend time with a parent and occasionally other family members with whom they no longer live, due to family breakdown and separation that is unresolved. The Centre offers a stepping stone for parents to move on in their arrangements for contact. The Centre also provides supervised contact, in or out of the Centre, as well as handovers for parents that do not want to meet.

• Resolve Whenever parents are in a separation process, Resolve helps them to create a brighter outlook for their children.

Face to face sessions help identify achievable things that parents can do in

By Mr Pinless

Teacher of RE Sixth Form Chaplain If you were to walk around the site of All Saints’ Academy you could not help but see the many quotes that seek to inspire and challenge you to think. These quotes may be from Christian saints or just inspirational people who have made big impacts in their own small ways. There are others though. When you next congregate around the reception turn your eyes upwards and you will see another quote, this time from the Bible. The quote reads as follows, ‘I have come that they may have life and have it to the full’ (John 10:10).

As a joint Academy, between both the Anglican and Catholic dioceses, this is something that we can all agree on. ‘Life to the full’ starts with following Jesus.

In line with this thought, it was fantastic to witness and act as sponsor for one of our sixth formers, Jacob Turner, when he was baptised at All Saints’ Academy in St Benedict’s Chapel on the 1st March. In both Christian traditions baptism is recognised as the starting point of the Christian journey. In a symbolic gesture the water washes and purifies, allowing the candidate to lay aside their old life and embrace the new. This was the very reason Jacob had asked to be baptised: he wanted to be a Christian in practice not just in theory. Jacob on the day said in front of number of staff and friends as such, “Today is a line in the sand for me. A fresh start, an opportunity to live another way.”

Jacob was presented with a Bible from the Academy to mark the special day.

Jacob would also like to thank all the friends and staff who supported him on this occasion.

If anyone else would like to discuss this or any other aspect of Christian life then the Chaplains are always available to talk. their children’s best interests. Resolve helps parents focus on workable solutions on child contact, potentially avoiding costly court proceedings.

It’s available to either parent, individually or together.

• Stay and Play Sessions: For parents and their 0-3’s in term time plus school holiday activities.

These offer sessions to parents and their children, ages 0-3 years, to spend time together in structured play activities so parents are better able to enjoy and encourage learning time with their children.

Also these sessions give young children the chance to play alongside/with others as a valuable experience before they go to Playgroup or Nursery School.

Contact Details: St Silas Church Centre, Hesters Way Road Cheltenham Gl51 0SE Tel: 01242 580812 E-mail: us@familyspace.org.uk Website:www.familyspace.org.uk

Above: Jacob Turner is baptised by Rev Steve Jarvis

Mass of Thanksgiving for Pope Benedict XVI

By Mrs Spence

Roman Catholic Lay Chaplain

Above: Governor Fr Paul Brandon with some students from All Saints’ Academy

Thursday 28th February 2013 Clifton Cathedral, Bristol

Sacrament of Confirmation Bishop Declan will be coming to Sacred Hearts Parish on the 19th November 2013 to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation. Young people of the parish, in year 9 or above, should complete an application form (available at the back of the Church) and return it to Fr Paul by 17th March. There will be a meeting for parents and candidates on 24th

On Thursday 28th February four students accompanied by myself, attended the special Mass of Thanksgiving for Pope Benedict at Clifton Cathedral, Bristol.

The Right Reverend Declan Lang, Bishop of Clifton celebrated the Mass with around eighty priests from the Diocese in attendance.

The congregation included representatives from many Catholic Schools in the Diocese and was on the occasion of Pope Benedict’s retirement as Holy

April, 7.30 – 8.30, in the Church Hall.

Father.

DEPARTMENT FOCUS

Issue 19, Term 4, 2013

www.asachelt.org

G e og r a p hy

By Miss Hannam

Teacher of Geography

On the 28th February All Saints’ Academy welcomed a visitor to the Geography department. Dominic Faulkner, the co-ordinator of extra-curricular activities at Cheltenham College, visited during period 5 to speak to 8C and 8H. The students listened extremely well and were clearly enthralled with what Dominic had experienced.

The purpose of Mr Faulkner’s visit was to demonstrate to the students that Geography is far more then classrooms textbooks and atlases. He spoke for 45 minutes of his experiences when he decided to make ‘The Longest Climb’.

At age 16 Dominic had been inspired to climb Mount Everest, but was initially disappointed that of course he could not be the first person to do so. So, being a determined man he sought out another challenge. He decided he would aim to be the first man to travel under his own steam from the lowest point on the earth’s surface to the highest point. This journey involved him travelling from the Dead Sea to the summit of Mt Everest.

Forty five minutes of informative Geography interspersed with a comical video and interesting encounters followed. Year 8 seemed amused at the tribulations of his team including an occasion when his five- strong- team awoke to find their tent six inches deep in sewage! Who ever said it was going to be easy! The expedition however was not without its disappointments. Year 8 discovered that part of the way through their journey Dominic’s team learnt of an Austrian man who had also decided to make exactly the same journey, and, he was a whole month ahead of them.

Year 8 also found out some of the dilemmas that can be encountered when attempting to cycle though minus thirty degree temperatures and when trying to cross land borders between Iraq and Pakistan. On that point it should be noted that the England cricket team owe a victory to Dominic and his team-it was the only way that the Pakistani authorities would let them in. Cricket it was then!

Having successfully navigated -30 and +30 degree temperatures on their bicycles the team soon approached Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, where they were to come to an end on their bikes and continue their journey on foot. This was probably not a bad thing. As Dominic had explained earlier it is not uncommon to find yourself surrounded by 1000 people in some parts of central Asia, as people gather round to see you dealing with your puncture, chain or other trivial matter.

This last part of the journey was to be 0.1% of the distance but over 90% of the climb. The team camped down at base camp ready to begin their ascent of Everest. At this point one of the explorers decided that the risks were bigger than the rewards. As 10% of people who climb

Dominic Faulkner inspires Year 8

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By Gabrielle Parsons Student Reporter

Dominic Faulkner came into All Saints’ Academy to talk to budding adventurers in year 8.

Dominic is famous for leading a team on an ambitious 8000km expedition from the lowest point on Earth to the highest by bicycle and foot. Not only is Dominic a brilliant adventurer he also wrote the book ‘The Longest Climb’ about his expedition.

The talk was really interesting, and we found out some things about exploring and travelling distant lands. We discovered how and where he sourced his food on Mount Everest, and how he washed his clothes in sub-zero temperatures! Some students stayed behind after the presentation to ask Dominic questions about his adventure and about what Geography means to him.

I found his presentation really interesting, and it inspired me to do something with my life.

Above & right: Year 8 students with Dominic Faulkner Everest die on Everest she decided it day when in a bar by a man who introwasn’t for her. Four of the original group duced himself and the men soon realised of five continued up the mountain. Ev- they had been competing to get to the erest was not to be underestimated. Days summit. Dominic asked the other climber before the group were due to take their what day he had summited. The climber final ascent up the last bit of the mountain replied that he had reached the peak on the a radio call came through that a climber 22nd. Dominic and his team had summitfrom another group had died within ‘the ed one day earlier on the 21st. It was only death zone’ (a part of the mountain where at this point that Dominic let year 8 know you are guaranteed to die should you that the other climber has actually had the spend more than 24 hours up there!). The idea five years earlier than Dominic but, team were asked to retrieve the wedding due to developing cancer, he had not been ring a camera from the body to return to able to attempt his challenge until now. his wife who had stayed at base camp. A Dominic left year 8 with the sombre mood was set for the final climb. parting thoughts of not to be too arrogant

Dominic and his team be- about things in life as some people cergan the last leg of their climb in the tainly have it much harder, have worked early hours of the morning. Climb- harder and are most gracious in defeat. ers choose to start the final climb in the Unfortunately due to technical problems night in order to be able to make the at the start of the talk Dominic was unmore dangerous descent in the daylight. able to take questions from the group

Needless to say the group suc- but some students stayed behind to hear cessfully made it to their destination and from him on a one to one basis. I think all descended the mountain safely. It was it is safe to say year 8 had an enjoyable not until several days after they had fin- afternoon being inspired to follow their ished that any of the team were reminded dreams. All Saints’ Geography departof the other group who were a month ment intend to welcome Dominic back ahead of them. Dom was approached one in future years to speak to students again.

DEPARTMENT NEWS

Issue 19, Term 4, 2013

English

By Emily Bond Student Reporter

World Book Day

As Thursday 7th March was World Book Day, there was lots happening at All Saints’ Academy.

There were competitions and activities available for all students to participate in. Almost every member of staff at the Academy got into the spirit of things and came to school dressed as book characters! We all had a lot of fun guessing who was who, and finding every teacher so that we could complete the ‘guess who’ quiz. Mr Bradley’s pa-

pier mache giant head from ‘Diary Of A Wimpy Kid’ was a spectacular and deserved winner! Once we had completed the quiz we were then able to take it to the GLH (Gateway Learning Hub) to be marked and, if completed correctly, we received a small prize! We were then also able to vote for who we personally thought was wearing the best costume.

There was also a book hunt which involved the students finding book tokens that had been hidden in various places around the school. If you were lucky enough to find one you were then able to take it to the GLH (Gateway Learning Hub) and exchange the token for a free book. Overall a fantastic day which encouraged more pupils to pick up a book and read!

www.asachelt.org

Maths

By Mrs Hewlett

Interim Senior Leader

How to choose a Husband!

On 28th February, a maths expert visited the Academy and created quite a stir for the Year 7 and Year 9 students who came to hear him show how, mathematically, the odds are in favour of men when it comes to choosing someone to marry. We also welcomed 7 gifted mathematicians from Springbank and Rowanfield to join us. The maths expert proved it really is a man’s world!

After running through some ideas of what everyone looks for in a partner he took a simple case of 4 boys and 4 girls and worked out solutions to which partners they would end up with depending upon their preferences. It culminated with boys on bended knee asking the girl of their choice to marry them which caused great excitement.

It looks like it is time for the girls to take things in hand and start to ask the man of their dreams to marry them, and not the other way round, if things are going to become more equal. It’s a mathematical fact!

Year 7 & 8 Over the next term and half we would like our Year 7 and 8 students to become even more excited by maths. In the summer we are planning a maths day – watch out for futher details!

Science

By Mrs Cain

Head of Science

Festival on our doorstop The Cheltenham science festival is running between 4 – 9th June this year. We are really lucky to have such an exciting event on our doorsteps. The festival includes:

“How long is a piece of string?

What makes the world turn? And why does chocolate taste so good? From the state of the planet, to the latest stem cell research, to the secrets of the perfect cup of tea – nothing is off limits at The Times Cheltenham Science Festival. We’ll be joined by some of the world’s greatest scientists, big thinkers and comedy geniuses to help us answer some pretty big questions.”

Ihttp://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/ science/about-the-science-festival/

This is a great opportunity to meet famous scientists and find out about their work. You may get the chance to meet with Professor Brian Cox or Dr Alice Roberts. Both these scientists have been on our TV screens recently.

The Science department are running a reward trip open to all KS3

Above: Staff in fancy dress students to go to the festival. The lucky students will have shown excellent behaviour, participation and effort in their classes. Their teachers will nominate them for a place on the trip. So, if you’d like the chance to go, make your teacher notice how much effort you have put in and how well you are doing in lessons.

Year 9 Year 9 too have recently been put into new groups. We are very lucky at All Saints’ to have a team of extremely well trained maths teachers who are working hard with their students to improve their grades.

Some schools do not have enough maths teachers but we have a whole department of maths specialists. Many Year 9 students have much to do and I ask that parents support them to achieve even more than they think they are capable of. There are a number of ways parents can help but starting with these three your child will make faster than expected progress: 1. Provide a quiet place for your son/daughter to work 2. Look through their maths book – check they are writing clearly and neatly, always putting the date and going over their work to improve it 3. Test them on their tables – if you do this for 5 minutes a day, every day you will be amazed how quickly they learn them and this will help them in other subjects as well as maths.

Year 10

Above: A student at Cheltenham’s Science Festival 2012.

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Earlier this year, building on the success of Year 11, we decided to mix up the Year 10 students into new style groups with some of them in single sex groups.

I can now tell you that this has been extremely successful. We are so pleased

Above: Students taking part in the maths presentation with how things are going that we have decided to enter every Year 10 student for GCSE this summer, a term earlier than we had planned. This is a great opportunity for our students and we wish them well in their preparation for the exams.

On 18th March a group of 15 Year 10 students who plan to study maths beyond GCSE have the opportunity to attend a maths day with other talented

Maths News The maths staff are enjoying a wide range of stimulating training sessions.

This week Mrs Scarfe came to talk about Spirituality in mathematics and it reminded us all just how beautiful maths is.

maths students from Gloucestershire.

Year 11 On 28th February and 4th March thirty eight Year 11 students sat two GCSE Higher papers. This followed 3 days half term revision and lots of extra maths with Mr Bagnall and Mrs Jones as well as a day for some with Mr Lomax, a visiting maths expert who took students through the challenge of the new style ‘unstructured’ questions. Well done to all the students who have worked so hard. We look forward to another set of great results in April.

There will be another maths GCSE in the summer when everyone in Year 11 will be entered for the final time.

We are hoping for every student to ‘up a grade’ from where they are now and have plans up our sleeves for even more ways of helping each student achieve the grade they deserve. We hope even more will choose to study AS or A level maths in the sixth form at All Saints’ Academy.

We already have a record number signed up for next year due to the fantastic set of results from November but we have room for more. A recent report showed that students who do well in maths, on average, have 30% or more higher income later in life so we know it is a good choice for any student who follows the higher tier course and gains a B grade or higher.

If you look at a flower or butterfly you can see the beauty of their symmetry and it just makes us think about the mathematics in the world and how it is at the heart of so many wonderful things. It is worth just stopping sometimes to look at what is around us, marvelling at its beauty and recognising the underlying mathematics within it.

We are delighted that Mr Liam Wilkinson will be joining the department after Easter as our new Head of Mathematics. Mr Wilkinson is joining us from a school in the midlands and impressed our students when he taught a fabulous lesson on fractions using chocolate! We can’t wait to see what is coming next.

Finally, last week was Internal Maths Day. We didn’t make a fuss this year as there was so much already going on in the Academy – World Book Day and the preparations for Comic Relief.

However, one of our Numeracy Champions set this task for pupils and staff…..

111,111 x 111,111 = What do you notice about the answer to this?

It’s time to Login and get involved with I am Learning via the ASA VLE Average result improvement using I am Learning was 8.6% When learners made regular use of I am Learning i.e. an average of at least one hour per week, average results improved by 13.5%

GCSE Improvement Significant gains were observed at GCSE with average percentage increases of: Mathematics: +8% English: +11% Science combined average: +12.5% MFL combined average: +16% Humanities combined average: +16%

Keep up-to-date with competitions and prizes!

For parental access contact crevell@asachelt.org

Issue 19, Term 4, 2013

SIXTH FORM www.asachelt.org

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Sixth Form Business students get a bite of the big apple

By Lauren Owen Student Reporter

By Sarah Gunston Student Reporter

Thursday 7th Feb 2013 At 5am students and parents were gathered excitedly and in anticipation waiting for our departure from All Saints’ Academy to London Heathrow airport. Nigel Day (Caretaker) kindly offered to take our group of Sixth Form Business Studies students alongside Mr Kelly and Miss Ball to London. Luckily the roads were clear and we arrived with plenty of time.

During the lovely BA flight to New York, Arron Rushworth was lucky enough to be upgraded to Premium Economy due to a fault with his headphones – lucky Arron! On the way us students had 8 different options of Sky Plus style films which were yet to be released in the UK. The food and drinks were amazing for plane food! (thanks BA).

As we walked off the plane, we were greeted by the most incredible views across New York with the Empire State casting high across the sky and other skyscrapers. After successfully checking into the hotel we were lead out into town with our Travel Agent. Matt, who got us on the subway to Times Square where we had dinner at the Hard Rock Café. It was incredible and we then spent the rest of the evening exploring Times Square, which was insane! So many lights, adverts and shops; NYC truly is the city that never sleeps. We then carried on looking round some of the shops and enjoying the entertainment. After 26 hours of being awake, we decided to head back to the hotel.

We went to bed excited for the rest of the trip. WE LOVE THE BIG APPLE!!

Friday 8th February 2013 We headed out at 7.30am to Old Johns restaurant on 67th street and then made our way to the Empire State building, passing the high end famous brand stores on 5th Avenue such as Macy’s and Gucci.

The temperature was -5 and it was snowing, which meant the visibility from the top of the Empire State was unfortunately poor. Whilst exploring the building we found out lots of information and how it was constructed. It was built in 1920 and costs $25 million! The same amount as ASA! Inflation has risen! There was an enormous amount of marble that filled the building, not to mention the incredible history. On the 80th floor was the observation deck where the snow storm battered us – but it was brilliant fun.

Our next stop was most definitely our

busiest. The tour of Macy’s was fantastic with a really enthusiastic and knowledgeable tour guide, who gave us an informative business talk focusing on marketing strategies, advertising and contemporary Customer Service techniques.

The Macy’s store in New York is the largest department store in the world. It’s sales were up 12% in January and is actually in the

middle of a refurbishment ready for Independence Day on July 4th. We were given 2 hours of shopping in Macy’s after the talk where most of us bought something nice. However, with only 2 hours most people didn’t make it round all 10 floors! We were soon embracing the cold once again with a blistering chill of -10 and continuous snow blizzards.

We often struggled with the subway system which is more complicated than you would think. We made our way to

Times Square: Students explore the thriving heart of Manhattan Downtown Manhattan, whilst singing the “uptown, downtown” song, to the Finance District. It was baultic with the weather getting progressively worse but we soon made our way to the Federal Reserve Bank for our tour of the stock exchange and volt. Unfortunately the snow blizzard had caused disruption and as result they were closing. Instead we grabbed our daily Starbucks fix, where we met a fun worker with a great singing voice - he was very talented! We worked our way back up the red line on the Subway to Times Square where we stopped and had dinner at Bubba Gumps restaurant. Again this was another great dinner and experience – with plenty of banter.

Kieran, Arron and K-Dawg raced around the Broadway ticket offices in Time

Square to negotiate the best deals for the 11 of us to see a show –Wicked (The prequel to the Wizard of OZ). We had prime seats in the lower mid-section with a brilliant view. After what was an amazing show we headed back to the Hotel.

Saturday 9th Feb 2013 When we woke up in the morning, we looked out of the window to see huge amounts of snow! Nothing like you would see in the UK – half a meter of SNOW. After getting ready, we then set off and before getting breakfast at Old Johns we went to take a stroll through Central Park which was opposite to where our hotel was located. Central Park was beautiful and was a fantastic opportunity to take pictures of this iconic area of New York.

IN NEW YORK

Issue 19, Term 4, 2013

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was an incredible experience as none of us had ice skated outside before – proves how cold it was! The view was spectacular and Central Park is picturesque at night with the surrounding skyscrapers, lights and snow. When we got on the ice, some of us went straight into the middle of where the fast skaters go, and some were on the edge getting used to it. After a while all of us were able to skate and were skating around together, enjoying it very much. Near to the end, Sarah and Lauren were skating together when Sarah suddenly took Lauren out and they both went flying (a real You’ve Been Framed moment). Also, Estelle was able to skate backwards a little and able to do circles.

After the time was up, we went on our way back to Y; with Natalie falling over on the ice every 2 meters - comedy moments which will never be forgotten!

To see a video of our trip, visit: h t t p ://y o u t u .b e /XGY I X 5 M B Y l M you can also find this on the ASA website.

Top: Brooklyn Bridge Bottom: Students about to enter the Apple store in New We also wrote ‘Happy Birthday’ in the snow for Kyra as it was her 18th. We quickly make our way to Old Johns, passing the John Lennon memorial where we enjoyed our usual breakfast menu. We soon made our way down to Battery Park to see the Statue of Liberty. Unfortunately it was closed due to weather being so bad. We plan to come back and try again tomorrow!

After getting back on the subway we stopped at Grand Central station, which was incredible! We walked around the station and found the famous ‘whispering wall’, where we all started whispering to each other from one side of the wall the other. We were soon having lunch at TGI Fridays to celebrate Kyra’s 18th.

After TGI’s we had the opportunity to explore 5th Avenue and Green-

wich Village before heading to China Town for our traditional evening meal. China Town is famous for its selection of traditional Chinese restaurants and large Chinese population. In the shops on the way to restaurant there were ducks hanging in the window getting ready to be cooked, also fish in open markets without their heads (yuck). When we finally got to the restaurant, we had a spectacular meal being served to us with many different options to choose from, including fortune cookies.

Ending the evening we decided to go ice-skating at the Trump outdoor Ice Skating rink in Central Park. This

Sunday 10th February 2013 We started the day at Old John’s where we tasted the most amazing pancakes!

With a busy morning ahead, we made our way to the St Pauls Church in New York Wall Street, where we were given a tour of the church to which members of the public flocked during the 9-11 disaster – it was a very emotional atmosphere as we saw photos of everyone who died in the tragedy, and a bed was laid out as a remembrance of the 90 beds that were in the church around the time of the disaster. We gave a gift of a cross and a certificate of appreciation to the church. It was put amongst the other tokens and gifts left by travellers.

Finishing at the church we ventured to Ground Zero, the ruined foot prints of where the Twin Towers once stood had been transformed into deep water falls. The idea being that the sound of the water would act a peace to all the victims of that day. After a moving experience at Ground Zero, we took the subway down to the Statue of Liberty cruise – the sun was finally out when we reached the boat, although there was still a chilly wind when departing the dock.

It was a beautiful view of the skyline as we made our way around the island. The Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island stood tall in front of us, a monumental structure given to the country as a gift from France.

When the cruise boat docked back at New York we took a long subway ride up town to our final shopping trip in Times Square. We all broke off into smaller groups and dashed round the busy square to grab our final buys (last minute gifts)! Making our final adjustments to our cases we waited down in the lobby area for our taxi to JFK airport.

When the taxi finally arrived we reluctantly gave our cases to the driver and said our goodbyes to the beautiful city. When we were approaching the Brooklyn Bridge, the taxi man told us all to get out our cameras and get ready to take a picture. After finally getting on the Brooklyn Bridge he said to take the picture NOW. The scenery was amazing and a thing that we will all never forget. It was time to go. The City of New York was an amazing trip which no one will ever forget.

Chelsea’s Column

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What’s life for an American teenager?

By Chelsea Craven Student Reporter

I moved here December 7th so I’ve been in England for about three months now. I’ve always wanted to come to Europe and see the other side of the world and I’m really happy to be here.

I’m originally from Sandy, Utah (in the Salt Lake District). For those of you who don’t know where Utah is it’s next to Nevada where Las Vegas is and Nevada is next to California. Utah, in the Salt Lake region, is also where they held the 2001 Winter Olympics. Salt Lake is said to have to best snow in the world.

It is surrounded by huge mountains and of course has a huge lake completely filled with salt and not much else. This is where I was born and lived throughout most of my life. However, I have lived in Washington State for six years so I am used to the rain. I actually kind of like it.

Anyway, I loved growing up in America when I was 4, like most 4 year olds, I went to preschool and then when I was 5 years old I went to Kindergarten in an elementary school, which is like England’s primary schools. Elementary consists of kids from 5 years old to about 11-12 years old, or kindergarten then 1st - 6th grade. After elementary students go to middle school or junior high depending on where in the states you lived but they’re pretty much the same thing.

Middle school is where students could start taking electives (like your woods, art, music, tech classes, etc.)

I had 8 classes, your generals, which are like maths, science, english, and history. Then I had my electives, gym and a TA class which is like a homeroom or in England terms tutor group. Middle school was a lot more fun than elementary school. Middle school is from 7th grade (12-13 yrs old) to 8th (13-14 yrs old) or 9th grade (14-15 yrs old) your 9th grade year is like your freshmen year in high school but some states had only 7th and 8th graders in middle school and 9th grade would go to junior high or high school. It’s really confusing but in the school where I went to we had 7th, 8th, and 9th graders. (I like that way more).

After junior high or middle school you went to High school which is like England’s 11th years and sixth form.

High school was really fun that’s where everyone was old enough to drive and hang out and really get involved in school.

I loved high school and I miss it sometimes. If I was still in high school I would be a junior. Which is your 3rd year of high school. High school grades go from freshmen, (but mostly) sophomore, junior, and

senior. High school, on the education side, is like middle school just with more electives and opportunities and much harder.

The social part of high school is the fun part of high school what you see in movies but less dramatic and not always so negative. There’s always something fun going on at my high school. We have American football games in the fall, basketball games in the winter, baseball in the spring, along with volleyball and soccer (English football). You could try out for musicals and plays. We have social clubs like DECA a marketing club where you competed with other schools and FBLA Future Business Leaders of America etc.

The part I miss the most are; high school dances like Sadie’s (Dogpatch), Winter Dance, Sweet Hearts, Spring Fling, and Prom plus we had stomps in between.

Above: My High School Prom Dance 2012 It was a great way for the school to make money and for students to interact.

Negative parts of high school were what you mostly see in movies. There is a lot of competition and discrimination. I’m really happy to see that’s not really the case in England or at least not as bad.

What I find funny is that most British kids are dying to go to America but if you asked an American kid if they wanted to come here they would say yes in a heartbeat. I guess this is a case of the grass is greener on the other side, right? I’m happy I had the opportunity to live in America but I’m also very lucky to live here now. England is so beautiful it’s so green and clean. Everywhere you go has some history in it.

I couldn’t be happier to be a part of this side of the world and I hope you are too.

Above: Championship, i’m on the top left Left: Friends and I at state championships our school football team took state

ASA SIXTH FORM

Issue 19, Term 4, 2013

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Students question Minister of State for Schools

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MP visits ASA

By Mary Butler Student Reporter

On Thursday 7th March David Laws came to All Saints’ Academy for a Q & A session with Sixth Form students. We were also joined by students from Dean Close sixth form and Pates. David Laws is the Minister of State for Schools and the Cabinet Office. He has a cross-department role working on the Coalition Agreement.

The whole session was very successful with students grilling Laws on matters such as university fees, scandals within parliament and small matters such as how he contributes to being ecofriendly. When questioned about the rise in university fees Laws stated that the debts that were accumulated after students finished their degrees, once they earned enough money to pay the debt back, ‘the money came straight out of their pay check and was more like an extra tax fee than a huge university fee debt’.

As a sixth form

student at All Saints, I attended the session and also asked my own question to David: citing Chris Huhne as an example, how can parlia-

Oxford Trip

By Mrs Atkins Head of MFL

By Miss Skelding

PR & Communications Manager

Left: David Laws Above: ASA Chair of Govenors & David Laws with students from Pates, Dean Close and All Saints’ Academy Right: David Laws being questioned by students ment ensure that it employs MPs with a necessary level of integrity?

I felt that the whole experience of meeting a serving member of the cabinet was really interesting, and gave me a glimpse into the corridors of power!

We hope to visit Parliament soon and investigate politics even more.

Elite’s enterprising journey

By Lucie Jelfs

Student Reporter On Friday March 1st a group of 18 Year 11 and 12 students went to Oxford for the day for a tour of the university. Oxford University is not all on one campus but is spread out across the city. We were given a guided tour of one of the colleges called Lady Margaret Hall by a 2nd year medical student, and we were shown around the halls of residence, the library, the dining room and other various parts of the college. The tour was fascinating and really opened students’ eyes to what life is like at Oxford University.

During the afternoon we looked around Christchurch college which was another unique experience as we got to walk around the amazing chapel and the great hall, which Harry Potter was based on! As we walked around the colleges, we saw some students coming out of the exam hall dressed in their gowns and we learnt about some of the traditions that come along with studying at Oxford. We had the chance to explore various parts of the city and even got to watch a boat race! The trip provoked some really vibrant conversations about university and subject choices for the future and many students are now really excited about continuing their education after leaving ASA.

On 18th february Sixth Form students had the opportunity to quiz Martin Horwood on his opinions on education, faith schools, gay marriage, tuition fees, A-levels, the EU and his hobbies.

The students spent an hour asking the MP questions such as “where do you stand on gay marriage and do you think it is right that Government should introduce legislation that was not part of their pre-election manifesto?” and “What are your views on tuition fees?”

Martin made sure to give thorough answers that were his own and not necessarily the opinion of his party. When asked about the rise in tuition fees he responded, “I am strongly against tuition fees. Education should be free.”

Students responded really well to the Cheltenham MP Abigail Garrett said, “It has been a great insight into the life of an MP. I was already a supporter of the Lib Dem party and I fully concur with his opinions on the issues that were raised.”

Our journey began in September of 2012 when two friendship circles joined forces and became one team.

Back then we did not think we would get along let alone be successful.

The most difficult part of our journey was deciding on a product that was both innovative and would be a good seller. We chose Sock puppets as they fit perfectly with our mission statement of inspiring the younger generation to be more creative whilst encouraging parents and children to work together.

In the period leading up to Christmas we chose to sell our sock puppets at primary school Christmas Fayres.

In a period of 4 weeks we managed to sell 61 of them. This gave us a confidence boost as we moved on into the New Year.

We felt that we could take on a second product and decided on ‘Make your own bunting’, which is aimed at a slightly older audience. To expand our market we decided to take orders for personalised bunting, the customer orders the product; we create the kits and then post them out.

During February half term we sold our products at the Regent Arcade. It was

great to interact with the general public while at the same time trying to sell our product. A week after we were delighted to receive an email saying that we were shortlisted for the final. We all got out our posh dresses and attended a glittering black tie dinner and awards ceremony. At this event we got the chance to sell our product to others who were also finalists in the Love to Shop awards.

We were complimented on our efforts, “The pupils from All Saints’ Academy blew us all away by their retailing talent and could have shown some of our established retailers a trick or two”(John Forward, Manager of the Regent Arcade) When the awards were announced we were sure we wouldn’t win because the other schools had great products, so we were shocked when we heard our name announced as the winner! We all piled onto the stage where we received a framed personalised front page of The Echo and a glass trophy to go alongside it. We were the first ever school to be crowned ‘Young Retailer of the Year’!

We are in the process of arranging a meeting with Carousel, a kids clothing shop who expressed an interest in our products at the Love to Shop award. We will also be attending an Easter Extravaganza in St Marks and a sale in the near future in Shurdington.

Above: ASA at the awards Below left: Puppet making with Springbank Academy Below right: Elite at the Cheltenham Young Enterprise

www.facebook.com/EliteCraftCompany www.youtube.com/user/EliteCraftCompany Email: wearelite@live.co.uk

HOUSE ACHIEVEMENT

Issue 19, Term 4, 2013

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DEPARTMENT NEWS

Issue 19, Term 4, 2013

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C a t e r i n g Histor y

By Miss Skelding

PR & Communications Manager

Students produce Chinese New Year feast Students held a Chinese New Year buffet for the practical part of their Hospitality & Catering BTEC Level 3 assignment.

Staff paid £7.50 for the all you can eat buffet, and could even have a take away.

The students cooked a range of food from different countries including: China, Vietnam and India.

Head of DT, Mrs Coleman,

Music

By Mrs Austin Head of Music

Bimm music presentation It has been another jam-packed term in the music department. At the beginning of term we had a visit from BIMM Brighton, a prestigious modern music college specialising in full and part-time music courses taught by top musicians. A level and Btec students were given the opportunity to develop their understanding of the music industry and learn about some of the routes into careers that exist. Liam Taylor, AS Music technology student said “It was a really useful and enjoyable workshop and it has given me a better idea of what further education courses are available in for sound engineers.”

By Miss Cameron

said “The students have been amazing!

They have got on with all of the cooking without any help from myself. They have remained professional and calm throughout. It is a great experience for them, as most of them have not done anything like this before. We will definitely do it again.”

Student Yamini Machado said, “I really enjoyed today, my biggest accomplishment would be making 44 spring rolls from scratch!”

Teachers at All Saints’ Academy commented that the food was “tasty, stunning, tantalizing on the

Teacher of History

ILT Model Castles It was that time of year, when Year 7 History students unleashed their creative talents and built a model castle. Mrs Gooch, Mr Giblin and I were incredibly impressed by the number of students whose talent and effort shone through.

We had a range of designs, from the original Motte and Baily Castle to the complex and carefully designed Concentric Castle that was engineered to keep any enemies out. Well, at least until those inside had starved or been squashed by dead horses catapulted over during a deadly siege! Students were asked to take their learning from the classroom, and combine it with their own research to enhance their understanding of the importance of Castles. For the past 500 years their function has been to house the wealthy upper class and royalty, but prior to this they were a vital way for medieval rulers to seize and maintain control. A big thank you and well done to all of those students who completed a fantastic ILT.

taste buds and had a great variety.”

Top right: Miss Cox enjoying the choice of food Above: Year 12 Catering students

Easter performance Singers and guitarists have been working with primary school pupils from St Thomas More and St Gregory’s Schools to put together a joint performance of the Easter musical From the Stable to the Cross. The musical numbers and readings reflect on the fact that Christ’s birth occurred so that he could die to save mankind. Students from the sixth form, lead by Charlotte Randall have volunteered their time to create a band to accompany the songs.

Mark Aitchison said “I have wanted to perform this musical for a while and have thoroughly enjoyed working with the year 5 students from St Thomas More school.”

BTEC String group The BTEC string group is all set to go out and give their first performance in the last week of term and we hope to be able to bring you pictures from that next issue. The keyboard and guitar clubs are working towards a musical soiree next term as are students who learn musical instruments. If you are interested in joining any of the free clubs that run during the week or are interested in having private music lessons on an instrument please see Mrs Austin.

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Above: Some of the model castles students produced

Above: Charlene Jocson prepares some vegetables

Art

By Mrs Bayliss Head of Art

Above: Billie Samuelson’s artwork

Artist of the term Hundertwasser

Students had to produce a Hundertwasser style image mixing together elements from a buildings line drawing with their observational landscape drawings from the balcony.

Two Phase 2 Hundertwasser inspired collages – focus of the work was landscape- urban and rural.

Using Hundertwasser as a focus again Year 10 Btec students. found a google map image of Cheltenham and applied Hundertwasser style pattern work into the image. They added colour using watercolour paint, creating a range of textural effects with the paint.

Right: Dominika Czapiewska artwork

Above: Malwina Grzesikiewicz’s artwork Below: Mia Ellis’s artwork

Above: Madison Landon-Hammond’s artwork

DEPARTMENT NEWS

Issue 19, Term 4, 2013

Year 11 news

By Mr Clarkson

Assistant Principal

As another term nears an end, Y11s have only 9 teaching weeks until they leave (that will be 45 teaching days, which is between 200-225 lessons taking into account Student Review Day and Week 2 Fridays!).

Many Y11s are asking when is “Study Leave” ? … traditionally, at Christ College, and also All Saints’ Academy, staff know that the students need to be in school learning rather than at home. Y11s will remain with us until the end of Term 5 (just before May half-term). Which day they actually “leave” will be decided by Mr. Kingham and members of the Leadership Team … watch this space!!

Most recent news involved the fantastic work by Y11 PE students on 7th March. Both Mr Ferguson and Mr Rollason have highly praised the efforts of Y11 on this day: they worked tirelessly for an Exam Moderator who came into A.S.A.; they were a credit to the Academy.

On the same day – 7th March – the English department received marks from WJEC for the January English Language GCSE. Because of the English grade boundaries being in the news last August and many concerns, last year, the exam authorities have refused to issue grades for the January exams.

Mr. Dangerfield, Head of English, only has a mark for the exam paper with no way of knowing exactly what grade this will be until August. The exam marks

are 40% of the final GCSE grade; students also have 3 speaking assessments and written controlled assessments which are 60% of the final grade.

Between now and 16th May, a number of Y11s will be studying for the iGCSE examination, as well as the WJEC GCSE in June. Rest assured, all teachers in the English department are working very hard with Y11s to ensure they achieve their A*-C but, also, that they achieve the target grade (or higher) expected of them.

At this time of year there are some subjects who are finishing off their work and have no examinations to prepare for. Business Studies and Health and Social Care, for example, will be complete

by Easter, giving some extra time to study other subjects when we return for Term 5.

The Drama GCSE performance is taking place on 20th March and will be a key date to determine which grades are awarded to which students. Students should be spending all their free time learning their lines and performing “in role”.

With Easter approaching, there are many departments inviting students to come in for revision sessions and/or coursework completion.

Some of the departments who have informed me are below: letters will come home from these departments.

Easter is much earlier than last year which allows more time, in April and May, for studying in school.

As we have always said, there are afterschool sessions Monday-Friday every week and these will continue even into the June Exam period. Please contact the individual members of staff, or

Careers

By Mr Bradley

Assistant Principal (HAL)

We have just enjoyed National Careers Week at All Saints’ Academy and all departments took the opportunity to get involved. The TV screens have been showing a selection of potential career paths and if this has inspired you, and you would like information on any career, please see Mrs Taylor who would be happy to help.

On Monday 4th March an ambassador from the University of Gloucestershire visited us and spoke to the whole of Year 12 and a selection of Year 11 students. The talk provided students with information about University life. There was a great Q & A session developing and this event certainly provided ‘food for thought’ to those that have been thinking about University.

On the 5th March there was a Skills Festival at Gloucester Rugby club. Local employers and training providers were on

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hand to inspire students and give information on the options available to them.

Year 11 students looking at apprenticeships were able to visit the stands after school with their parents/carers and found the contacts they made useful. As always keep an eye on the VLE where we will post details of future events and opportunities.

Nine Year 11 girls enjoyed a Hair and Beauty taster day at Gloucestershire College. All of the girls are planning to go on to hairdressing apprenticeships and courses, so the day provided them with the chance to have a go and be certain that they are making the right choice.

There is still the opportunity to meet with Mrs Taylor or Mrs Parr to discuss your career aspirations or get advice with your applications for next year. Please contact us on careers@asachelt.org Impartial careers advice and guidance for students and the community is available from the National Careers Service web-site https:// nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk

Head of Department, for more details.

Every Y11 students will have a “Passport to the Prom” booklet which needs to be signed by their teachers when attending after-school classes. Completing the booklet will enable the student to have money back for the Prom – possibly enough money back to make it a free event!

I know many Y11s are planning ahead for the Prom, Leaver’s Book etc. but we will look very carefully at attendance and behaviour in these remaining weeks to ensure the students are on top of their studies. It would be a shame for any Y11 to let him/herself down at the end of their 5 years in Secondary education. When results are opened in August every Y11 will achieve the grades they deserve, in recognition for the hard work they have put in NOW!

To finish, I include a few teachers’ emails (in the box on the right) you may wish to contact, in the coming weeks, if there is any information you feel you need but don’t have. Please drop a line and we will respond as quickly as possible.

Until the next Newsletter, please think about these two quotations: both are recommended to Y11s who begin their final Terms’ work when we return after Easter …

Assistant Principals (HAL’s):

Y11 Monitoring Team:

Canterbury - Mrs A. Crawford acrawford@asachelt.org

Mr S. Clarkson sclarkson@asachelt.org

Durham - Mr L. Bradley lbradley@asachelt.org

Mrs R. Atkins ratkins@asachelt.org

Westminster - Mrs N. Mitchell nmitchell@asachelt.org

Mrs F. Goodwin fgoodwin@asachelt.org

York - Mrs J. Adsett jadsett@asachelt.org

Miss E. Holland eholland@asachelt.org

Core Subject Heads:

Miss E. Wife ewife@asachelt.org

Head of English: Mr N Dangerfield ndangerfield@asachelt.org Maths Leadership: Mrs F. Goodwin Miss E. Wife (emails on the right) Head of Science: Mrs C. Cain

Health Protection Agency warns of Measles Following a significant rise in measles cases in the Gloucestershire area, which has led to a number of children and adults being hospitalised, health professionals are asking parents and adults (specifically those born after 1988, after the introduction of the MMR vaccination, who may have missed out on MMR as a child) to check their Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccination history to ensure they and their children have received the required two doses of MMR.

The situation in Gloucestershire is consistent with national trends confirmed by the Health Protection Agency which show that measles is on the increase in England and Wales. The majority of cases in Gloucestershire are in children, but adults have also been affected.

Measles is caused by a very infectious virus which typically causes rash, cold-like symptoms, cough, red eyes and high fever. About one in every 15 children with measles will develop more serious complications.

These can include ear and chest infections, fits, diarrhoea, encephalitis (infection of the brain), and brain damage.

The local community is also being ad-

vised that anyone displaying symptoms of measles should take the following steps to prevent spreading the disease to others: • Keep away from school or work and away from others for five days from when the rash first appeared.

• You should also avoid coming into contact with people who may be particularly vulnerable to complications as a result of exposure to measles. This includes people with weakened immune systems, infants under the age of one, and pregnant women.

• It is also very important NOT to go to your GP practice or A&E department if you or your child has symptoms of measles. If you do, you risk passing on the infection to others in the waiting room. If your child has symptoms of the disease please telephone your GP surgery in the first instance.

Measles is an infectious viral illness that is spread by droplets in the air when infected people cough or sneeze.

More information about measles is available from the Health Protection Agency website at: http:// w w w. h p a . o r g . u k / i n f e c t i o n s / t o p ics_az/measles/background.htm

Goodbye Miss Abraham

By Mrs Atkins

Head of Languages

Miss Abraham is sadly leaving All Saint’s Academy at the end of this term. She started at St Benedict’s in 2001 as a languages teacher and went on to be a Head of Languages, Head of Year and more recently the Director of Sixth Form. Miss Abraham is an outstanding teacher who has touched the lives of many students during her time with us. She has decided to move back to Wales to be closer to her family and she has landed herself a job working for the International Baccalaureate office in Cardiff. She will be a real asset to their company but will be sorely missed by all of us at ASA. We wish Miss Abraham all the best in her new venture!

Issue 19, Term 4, 2013

COMMUNITY

Lights, Camera, Parliament!

Sandhurst visit ASA

Mr Simcox

Assistant Principal

An enterprising group of ASA students have produced a short film for a national competition.

Lights, Camera, Parliament is a national competition that seeks to get students from both primary and secondary schools involved in making and shaping UK policy. ASA’s team, comprised of Jake Sollars, Emily Domm, Chloe Mason, Ben Smart and Jack French produced a three-minute

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video about the need for food recycling laws to counter the 15 million tonnes of food that the UK wasted last year.

Jack French said “I have really enjoyed today, it’s been great working with other students and learning a bit more about the film making process.”

The video has recieved a staggering numbers of viewings on the competition’s website, with 5639 hits on their video!

Sport Parties at All Saints’ Academy ASA offers the ideal location for a party with a difference.

Choose from: Indoor, Astro Football, Netball, Tennis, Badminton, Basketball and Volleyball.

Age groups are from 5 -15 years old, maximum group number is 14.

Benefits include: Free Parking, Party Area including party bunting, party table cloths & a CD Stereo, All equipment provided.

Parties are available every Saturday and Sunday from the 21st April 2012.

Party format is an 1 hour self-managed Sports Party followed by 1 hour in our Party area for a self-catered party.

If you would like to book a party please confirm the availability of your chosen date and time by calling All Saints’ Academy on 01242 711311 or email: jburn@ asachelt.org

On Wednesday 20th February All Saints’ Academy hosted an army promotional event led by Brigadier PDP Hankinson MBE MA the Commander 43 (Wessex) Brigade.

By Kiara Pearce Puzzle Editor

Major Robert Philipson-Stow and Corporal Vicky Fox with a group students after the presentation.

Many of Gloucestershire’s dignitaries, including the Lord-Lieutenant Dame Janet Trotter DBE, attended a reception and presentation on the role of the army in the 21st Century.

Students who wanted to investigate a career in the armed services attended a similar presentation that after-

Sudoku

Puzzle Editor

Strength: Mild Time: 20 minutes

Test your this term’s

First two students to return their completed puzzle to Reprographics will recieve a prize.

By Kain Perkins

mental ability with top head scratchers!

Word Sear h

noon. They heard about army life from Major Robert Philipson-Stow RHG/D Chief of Staff for the Army Engagement Group and Corporal Vicky Fox.

Students also watched some exciting video clips of army operations all over the world.

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ASA SPORTS Fixture Mayhem for ASA

Issue 19, Term 4, 2013

By Miss Daley PE Technician

This term has been a great term for girls’ participation in football, from interhouse to district tournaments!

The inter-house competition saw girls from all years compete in their house groups, with the girls really getting involved and enjoying themselves!

The first of the district tournaments was the U16’s, which took place at the start of February. All Saints’ finished 3rd in the tournament, narrowly missing out on being in the top two which would have took the girls into the county finals! Kerry Davis and Harmony Wheeler put on an impressive display, showing good footballing ability.

In the year 9 district tournament, all the girls put in a great performance and were just unlucky in a couple of games. This resulted in them also finishing 3rd overall, losing out to Pittville and Bournside. Wicki Oklinska showed a real desire to be the first to every ball, was strong in tackles and found the back of the net superbly, which resulted in her being ASA’s player of the tournament.

On Tuesday 26th February, it was the Year 7’s turn. With no designated goal keeper, the girls swapped

“Kerry Davis & Harmony Wheeler put on an impressive display” in to do their bit for the team allowing them to try a few different playing positions. The girls started working together as a team and moved up the pitch well, with striker Sharney Hill narrowly missing out on scoring for All Saints’.

The year 8 team also had a tournament this term, which featured teams that they’ve been playing in the U13 Girls Football League. The team included Rezi Dalogdog, Macy Patterson, Molly Taylor, Mia Townsend, Cameron Morrissey, Chloe Betteridge and Phoebe Harmer from year 7. The team defended well but couldn’t find the back of the net, with all but one games finishing 0-0!

The girls lost 2-0 to Barnwood Park who dominated the tournament and went on to win it. The tournament was a really nice event to celebrate the conclusion of the U13 Girls League, in which the girls have been playing fixtures for since September.

The girls finished mid table and should be very proud of the effort they’ve put in!

Girls Football Club – Wednesday 3-4pm with Miss Daley

Semi final success Year 9 District Cup

By Mr Ferguson

Assistant Principal Teacher of PE Three of the four year groups progressed to the semi finals of the Boys district football cups.

Year 8 won their district semi final after a 2-2 draw again on penalties, winning 4-2 against Bournside.

Year 9 won the district semi final after coming back from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 they won on penalties 4-3 against Tewkesbury.

Year 10 won 1-0 against Bournside in their semi final.

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By Ergys Berisha Student Reporter

VS Cleeve (Won 3-2) The boys and myself, still hungry from last year’s exit in the semi finals, set out to go that one step further. The first game was at home against Cleeve.

Cleeve proved to be a difficult opponent and they soon exposed the new centre back pairing of Hitchman and Dix slotting home early on to take the lead. The team rallied well and soon scored through Gambrell as he ran onto the ball and slotted past the out stretched Cleeve keeper.

In the second half I latched onto a through ball from Lonergan and calmy slotted past the advancing keeper. Gambrell once again extended the lead as he rasped one in at the second attempt after his first strike went straight at the keeper as he lay on the floor. Cleeve got one back in the closing minutes but ASA held on to win 3-2 in a very tight opening fixture.

Vs Cotswold (Lost 2-5) The following night saw us face Cotswold. A complacent and weakened team took to the field. Another new centre back pairing and new forward line allowed the boys to experience the problems Chelsea have faced this season!

Once again the team conceded right at the start of the game. The team soon equalised through Allen as his pace proved

Above: Students playing Boccia Natea Harper, Harry Stockwell, Lydia Tsang and Aniela Grzesikiewicz

Above: Girls that took part in Inter-house difficult for Cotswold to handle. The lead was extended as Attwood stroked home from a tight angle. The team looked to be cruising until a defensive misunderstanding allowed the tall Cotswold striker to slot the ball past Marks to end the half 2-2.

With it all to play for, Cotswold came out with all guns blazing, they immediately started the second half the way they finished the first scoring and regaining the lead. A poor defensive display from the midfield again let in the same player as he ran from deep and clinically struck the ball past Marks in goal. Mr Ferguson had to gamble as the team failed to play to its strengths, pushing four up front and instructing the boys to play it through the channels gave a new outlet for the team to play to. It failed and Cotswold once again slotted home to win the game 5-2.

Vs Pates (Won 7-0) A must win game! The boys, back at full strength, faced Pates. In a very one sided game the team needed to stay focused and disciplined as they dominated both territory and possession. A cross cum-shot from Gambrell opened the scoring, Gambrell again struck one form distance with sailed past the diving keeper to extend the score to 2-0. I then calmly chipped it over the advancing keeper. Allen was next to score as he tapped in after the keeper spilled a Dix shot. I then scored again as he ran onto a through ball from Lonergan.

The second half was much of the same, although many chances were wasted; only Gambrell and myself scored as the game ended 7-0 to ASA.

Year 11 District Cup ASA vs Chosen Hill

By Will Rayson Student Reporter

As reigning district and county champions our squad set off to defend their titles in the second round of the cup. The team faced Chosen Hill and entered the field of play believing in their ability and complacent in their approach.

From the start of the match it was evident that Chosen Hill were looking to soak up the pressure and hit the team on the break. It worked as they looked to use their pace up front to break through the ASA defence, the back four stood still as the striker burst through and was left one on one with Hopson. A lack of control almost allowed Hopson to grab the ball twice as he dived left and then right as the forward twisted and turned, unfortunately for the still isolated Hopson he eventually stroked it past him to make it 1-0 to Chosen Hill.

Despite endless pressure and dominance from ASA an equaliser was not found and very little created in reply during the first half on the tiny and very bobbly pitch.

The second half saw the introduction of several players as Mr Ferguson looked to change the game. The pressure

increased on the Chosen Hill pack line with the woodwork being hit several times and the keeper pulling off numerous saves. Brown was guilty of air shots as Mansell set him through on goal many times, Patterson too, through on goal with great chances, twice fired straight at the keeper. The introduction of Chiwetu and pushing myself forward seemed to do the trick as it confused Chosen Hill and Chiwetu was able to fire home from close range as he latched onto a through ball from myself. With the score at 1-1 and the clock ticking down, the team looked to gain the lead for the first time and continued to press forward but to no avail.

Extra time again saw the dominance and pressure from ASA, but a resolute and defensively minded Chosen Hill stuck with their game plan and kept the scores level, with the man of the match goal keeper again pulling off a string of saves.

Penalties, a lottery, you should score, if the keeper saves one – well done to him!!!

They scored, Patterson scored, they scored, Fletcher missed, they scored, Wilson missed, they scored!

So the team lost 4-1 on penalties, a bit like England! In the same week as many other strange and unexpected results!

ASA SPORTS Paralympian visits ASA

Issue 19, Term 4, 2013

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By Miss Daley PE Technician

Through Sky Sports Living for Sport initiative, Paralympic athlete mentor Mel Clarke (London 2012 Silver Medallist in Archery) worked with students from All Saints’ and Bournside School to improve confidence and self esteem through sport.

The students who took part were special educational needs students and students less engaged in sport - students that attend the respective schools sportsability clubs.

Students focused on 6 keys to success: 1. Mental toughness 2. Hunger to achieve 3. People skills 4. Sports & life knowledge 5. Breaking barriers 6. Planning for success These 18 students will run a Paralympic sports festival in March for SEN and less active primary school children from Gloucester Road Primary, St Gregory the Great and Christ Church.

The day was a great success, Mel Clarke engaged all students through a variety of communication and team building activities. The students from All Saints’ and Bournside worked brilliantly together throughout the day and they are very much looking forward to running a Paralympic festival which the project helped them plan for.

All Saints’ Sportsability club member Bronwen Giles, 16 said ‘today has been really enjoyable and really interesting. We started with an introduction talk from Mel Clarke (Paralympic Archer), followed by some names games (ice-breakers). Mel then told us her life story, after that we finished with some team games in the sport hall. She taught us her 6 keys to success and to always believe in yourself.’

Whelan sisters have U15 Table Tennis success

By Mrs Mitchell

Assistant Principal/ PE Teacher ASA has played host to a Cheltenham schools table tennis league, ran by the schools sports network, designed to promote and encourage students to take up table tennis. Weekly matches took place as schools played each other in a league competition. Students benefitted from expert advice from coaches and were given the opportunity to develop their understanding and overall skills in table tennis.

ASA were fortunate to experience success with Hannah and Sophie Whelan smashing all the girls’ in their

Below: Whelan sisters receive an award competition and running away with the girls U15 title. Congratulations ladies, a true credit to ASA.

ASA hope to continue to work alongside Cheltenham table tennis club to carry on the success of the competition and ultimately increase the participation in the sport.

Above: Paralympian Mel Clarke teaches students 6 keys to success

After their success in the School Games District Table Tennis competition, Sophie Whelan and Hannah Whelan have entered the Cheltenham Junior Closed Championships 2013 in the Girls U15’s Singles category. We hope that the girls enjoy the competition

Will Rayson makes a splash

By Miss Skelding

PR & Communications Manager

and wish them the best of luck.

Year 11 Will Rayson has been selected as one of thirteen athletes to represent Great Britain in the 2013 European Junior Water Polo Qualification Tournament.

It is held between 9 - 12th May 2013 and is being held in Istanbul, Turkey.

This is a tremendous success and we wish Will the best of luck with the competition. It is a great achievement to have at such a young age. Assistant Principal and PE Teacher Mr Ferguson said ‘It is a fantastic achievement for Will. He has been training hard for this since an early age. I was fortunate to see Will play in the National league decider last week.

The game was so fast and highly skilled that it was difficult to see all that was hap-

pening. Will’s dedication to all his sporting exploits has to be commended and the support of his family, travelling the length and breadth of the country to take him to training and competition, has to be recognised. Good luck in the Europeans Will.’

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