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Telephone: 01304 201151 Absence Line: 01304 200155 Fax: 01304 200152 Email: admin@astor.dfamat.com
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LINK July 2014
Dear Parents/Guardians The last term of the academic year is very exciting and along with the staff and students, I am looking forward to the Activity Week which is a fantastic addition to our curriculum. I must say a big a thank you to the 80 students, Mrs Chamberlain, Miss Cloke and Miss Innes for organising our fantastic Dance show ‘Fully Charged’. The theatre was packed every night and I know that many of you enjoyed watching our talented students perform. I would also like to congratulate and thank the PE department for a fantastic Sports Day on Tuesday 1 July 2014. The Dover Federation for the Arts continue to organise the National Students’ Arts Exhibition with the Royal Society of British Artists at the Mall Galleries in London. Congratulations must go to the 6 students who had 8 pieces of work selected: Amy Pilcher Yr12, also selected for the prestigious RBA Scholar award – 3 pieces of work; Clara Haurie Yr13 – 2 pieces of work; Gemma Dyer Yr13, Chanelle King Yr13 and Jasmine Swann Yr13. We also had a fantastic AS Art Exhibition, in our Community Arts Studio, on the evening of Monday 14 July, celebrating the work of our talented year 12 students. A reminder that students will be in Year groups with the following Directors of Year, Deputies and Pastoral Managers next year: Year 7 Director of Year Mr Gibson, Deputy Mr Davies and Mr Esdale Pastoral Manager Year 8 Director of Year Mr Moore, Deputy Mrs Fenwick and Mr Sadler Pastoral Manager Year 9 Director of Year Mr Mowat, Deputy Mrs Chapman and Mrs Linstrem Pastoral Manager Year 10 Director of Year Mr Jones, Deputy Miss Cloke and Miss Biddle Pastoral Manager Year 11 Director of Year Mr Harrison, Deputy Mr Lea and Mr Wright Pastoral Manager 6th Form Director Mrs Walton with Deputies Mrs Jones and Mrs Butterfield-Tracey. I would like to remind you and thank you in advance for ensuring that your son’s/daughter’s return without extreme haircuts or unacceptable piercings and that full uniform is purchased and ready to be worn correctly at the start of next term: plain black shoes; white shirt with top button done up; college tie and black trousers or skirt (further advice has been sent home regarding acceptable girls trousers and skirts). Uniform can be purchased from Channel uniforms or Brigade via our website. The College will be open to collect exam results for the 6th Form on Thursday 14 August from 10:00-12:00 and for Year 11 on Thursday 21 August from 10:00-12:00. Staff will be available to support you with applications for our 6th Form or Higher education on those days. I hope you all have a lovely summer holiday and students return to Astor on Thursday 4 September.
Very best wishes. Yours sincerely
Mr E Pallant Principal
Summer Camp RAF BRIZE NORTON 2014 Astor College Cadet Force
The National Students’ Art Exhibition The Mall, London Astor organises this exhibition under the patronage of the Royal Society of British Artists at its base in the Mall Galleries in central London. Eight pieces of work from Astor students were in this years show and one of the students, Amy Pilcher, was chosen as an RBA Scholar, which will enable her to show her work with the senior RBA members at their shows. The other Astor artists involved were Clara Haurie, Gemma Dyer, Jasmine Swan and Chanelle King.
PRESS RELEASE 4 JULY 2014
NEW BUS TICKET TO KEEP YOUNG PEOPLE INDEPENDENT Stagecoach in East Kent has announced a new range of bus tickets for young people which will extend Kent County Council issued passes to allow unlimited travel on Stagecoach buses. The new Stagecoach ‘PLUS’ tickets will be valid when children are unable to use KCC’s new Young Persons Travel Pass, meaning those aged 11-16 will still be able to benefit from unlimited travel at any time of the day as they did under the previous Freedom Pass Scheme. Jeremy Cooper, Commercial Director of Stagecoach in East Kent said: “Our new ‘PLUS’ tickets are designed to complement the KCC passes to make sure parents still have the option of purchasing an unlimited travel pass. We wanted to make sure young people were still able to enjoy the benefits of our comprehensive bus network and go out and make social and leisure journeys independently.” The Young Persons Travel PLUS ticket costs £50 for the year or £25 for half the year and will only be accepted when presented with a Young Persons Travel Pass. The PLUS ticket is valid when the KCC pass is not - in the evening, at weekends and during August. For parents who do not want to purchase a PLUS season ticket, Stagecoach has also pledged a £1 cap on single fares for holders of the Kent pass if they travel outside the times their pass is valid. There is also a new PLUS add-on ticket for holders of statutory scholars passes so those entitled to free travel to school can also upgrade their pass to make it valid at anytime. Scholars PLUS tickets cost £100 and are valid in the evening, at weekends and during all school holidays whereas scholar passes only allow one journey to and from school. PLUS tickets are available to buy online at stagecoachbus.com/eastkent. The tickets will be available to collect from schools at the start of term along with council issued passes.
For further information contact: Divene Anderson, Marketing Manager Tel: 01227 828118
Email: divene.anderson@stagecoachbus.com
Rebecca Day, Marketing Analyst Tel: 01227 828112
Email: rebecca.day@stagecoachbus.com
www.stagecoachbus.com/eastkent
Dance Show 2014 The Dance department have been working with students from Year 7-13 since January to create this year’s annual dance show titled ‘Fully Charged’. The Astor students have been preparing for the show and raising money for their own costumes by arranging bake sales, clothes sales, film nights, as well as learning plenty of routines! The idea was to have a direct link to technology throughout the pieces and Rebound (Astor’s in-house Dance Company) opened the show on Wednesday 18 June 2014, flanked by a stunning display of pyrotechnics and performed a ‘Great Gatsby’ inspired number ‘A Little Party Never Hurt Nobody’. Solo, trio and group numbers were also performed using lasers, projections and confetti cannons teamed with a plethora of dance styles ranging from Contemporary to African dance. Mrs Chamberlain, Miss Cloke and Miss Innes, who collaboratively directed the show, were overwhelmed with positive feedback and were so proud of how well the students performed. They would also like to thank all the staff who generously donated their time to ensure the technical aspects of the show ran smoothly. The students have worked incredibly hard with one member of the audience stating ‘the dance shows at Astor get better every year’ and preparations are already underway for next year’s show. Well done Astor!
On the lookout for turtles at Turtle Beach
Mathew Bourne Workshop Seven male students from Astor College have had the privilege of participating in a Mathew Bourne audition workshop. In September the renowned choreographer Mathew Bourne is showcasing his performance of ‘Lord of the Flies’ at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury. In an exciting new venture he is auditioning male dance students from the local area to take part in the performances. Over 600 male students have auditioned and there are only 15-20 dance positions available. On Wednesday 11 June 2014, Astor College had their very own workshop which was a huge success. All students involved were enthusiastic when learning two very different dance routines. In addition to performing the taught routines, the students also had to choreograph their own section of dance. This showed our students’ ability to work in a team and also how well they work under pressure. Both Owen Dawson (Year 11) and David Casson (Year 10) have been selected to perform in the professional production of Lord of the Flies at the Marlowe Theatre in September 2014.
Year 7 Cultural Day On Thursday 12 June 2014 all Year 7 students took part in the very first Cultural Day at Astor. The tutor groups were given the opportunity to take part in 6 workshops:
Traditional Czech dancing Traditional Romany Art Pizza Making African Drums Art for Frantisek Kupka Ethnic Games
The theme was for the students to learn about different cultures and to embrace the wonderful ethnic community we have both at Astor and in our surrounding area.
A big thank you to all the tutors and staff who gave up their time to share their brilliant expertise in all the workshops. All the students really enjoyed themselves and have already asked for another day next year.
M Pasquino
‘Everyone got together and had fun as a class.’ Rebecca Kennett 7HC
‘The best lesson was cooking as it was more physical.’ Ellie Hayes 7KB
‘The drumming was fun!’ Ryan Battie 7MP
‘I had an amazing day!’ Mia Messenger 7MP
Principal, Mr E Pallant BA(Ed) Hons NPQH
Important Dates For Your Diary End of Term Early Closure 1.00pm
23 July 2014
Term 1
Dates Thursday 4 September to Thursday 23 October
Holiday Dates Monday 27 October to Friday 31 October 2014
2
Monday 3 November to Friday 19 December 2014
Monday 22 December 2014 to Friday 2 January 2015
Development Day Friday 28 November 2014
Bank Holidays = 25 and 26 December 2014;
Monday 5 January to Friday 13 February 2015 Tuesday 24 February to Tuesday 31 March 2015
Monday 16 to Friday 20 February 2015 Thursday 2 April to Friday 17 April 2015
5
Monday 20 April to Friday 22 May 2015
Bank Holidays = 3 and 6 April 2015 Monday 25 to Friday 29 May 2015
6
Monday 1 June to Friday 24 July 2015
3 4
Bank Holidays = 4 and 25 May 2015 Monday 27 July to Wednesday 2 September 2015 (TBC) Bank Holiday = 31 August 2015
Development Days: 3 September 2014; 24 October 2014; 28 November 2014; 23 February 2015 and 1 April 2015.
Holidays in Term Time New Government Legislation, now in force, does not allow schools to authorise any term time holiday. If you remove your child/ren from College for a family holiday, please be aware that this is likely to result in a Penalty fine of £120 per parent per child. Fines paid within 21 days will be reduced to £60 and fines which are not paid within 28 days will be pursued by the Local Authority through the Magistrates’ Court.
College Attendance At Astor College we expect all our students to achieve 100% attendance although we do understand that time off for illness is occasionally unavoidable. With this in mind, we become concerned once attendance falls below 95%. Please monitor your child’s attendance closely as it can be surprising how few appointments and days off it takes before attendance becomes a concern. You can view your child’s attendance via My Child At School on our College website. We are currently writing to all parents/guardians of students with attendance below 95% and ask that you support your child’s education by addressing any problems you are experiencing at the earliest opportunity. If you would like any support or advice regarding attendance, please contact Gemma Stacey, Attendance Officer on Tel: 200105. Well done letters are also being sent out to our students with 95% and above. Please remember that for every week your child is in College every day on time, he/she will earn 6 attitude to learning points. These points for great attendance go a long way towards the end of year College reward trip so please make sure your child/ren does/do not miss out.
Big Bang Fair 2014 The Big Bang Fair South East was a massive festival of science and technology that was held on 1 July 2014 at the South of England showground near Crawley in Sussex. The event was hosted by STEM Sussex (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) and was attended by thousands of people from a multitude of schools from around the south east of England. Astor College science department arranged for a minibus full of Year 8s to attend the fair where they had the chance to watch fascinating and hilarious science shows and participate in workshops or simply to handle snakes! Some of the different areas of interest covered by the fair were robotics, the science behind fireworks, weather, the environment, chemistry and explosions, the human body and design and technology. Everyone had a great, Inspirational and fun day out.
Getting to grips with a snake
The hilarious ‘Magic Science Show’
Robot Challenge Trip On 24 June 2014 the University of Kent ran a Robot Challenge Day at their Medway campus which was open to any school in Kent. The Science department at Astor entered three teams into the competition with each team comprising of five students. Chloe Burchett, Lauren Habbershaw, Olivia Mulligan, Rhiannon Smith and Connor Friday made up the ‘Robotians’ team, the ‘Astorians’ were Jack Birkett, Bill Bristow, Lewis Drayner, Jack Jones and Harry Ulyatt and the third team, ‘Like a Bot’ were Philipp Dase, Michael Harris, Oliver Holmes, Oscar Holmes and Liam Smith. The theme of the challenge day was ‘food’ and was split into two sections; creating a presentation on a topic and programming Lego® robots to undertake certain tasks. For the presentation, each of the teams had to research their ideas and produce a well-structured and exciting presentation with supporting material and visual aids. All the teams did really well and managed to work into their presentations singing, dancing and plasticine! Programming the Lego® robots was an interesting and thought provoking task for all the groups. The students were given a brief introduction to the software and then had to programme the robot and adapt it as necessary to complete a selection of tasks in an arena. Each of the tasks followed the theme of food; fishing, harvesting and moving pigs were some of the tasks. Each task was worth a certain amount of points. At the end of the day the Astorian team managed to beat all the other schools with an unassailable 50 points, winning the robot programming competition. The other two teams were a close joint second with 40 points. Everyone agreed that they’d had a fun, challenging and informative day.
The year long project, Nautical Threads culminates in an exciting exhibition in Dover Library where textile work inspired by this theme is now on display. Year 7 students from Astor College have created a series of textile work inspired by poetry and workshops led by visiting artists, including Deal based Underground Pearl. Early in the Autumn Term, celebrated Textile Artist Cas Holmes and illustrator Tanya McCormack ran a series of workshops at Astor College, designed to up skill teachers and Arts Award students who then brought their newly acquired skills back into the classroom. Students visited The Bronze Age Boat Gallery at Dover Museum to make first hand observational drawings which they used as the starting point for their individual pieces. The pieces are displayed with work created by students from the 14 participating schools involved in this project. The project, a joint partnership between DAD and Astor College, is part of the cultural strand of Kent School’s Education Olympic Legacy Programme, ‘INSPIRE’, a legacy of Pass the Passion.
Global Investment Challenge Day On Friday 27 June 2014, eight year 12 students spent the day at Canterbury Christchurch University taking part in a Global Investment Challenge Day. Their task was to engage in an online multi-player simulation that transforms stock market trading into enjoyable collaborative learning. It enabled students to apply their business and analytical skills in a collaborative and time-pressured game. The day centred on a friendly competition for students from a number of partner schools and colleges. The team from Astor came 7th out of nearly 30 Kent schools which was an excellent result, and Emmy Billing won 'Best Report' of the day - well done to all of you. All agreed that the day was interesting and very enjoyable. The Astor team was: Emmy Billing, Georgina Cloake, Aidan Flynn. Drew Bennett, Jack Miller, Loran Reid, Katymai McAllister and Jemma Delmar
GAMES SHIRTS FOR SALE I have a small number of Astor reversible games shirts for sale. They are brand new and cheaper than Channel Uniforms. I have the following sizes and (quantities) 30-32 (1), 34-36 (7) and 38-40 (4) Price ÂŁ15 each (cash or cheque payable to Astor College). See Mr Moore PE Department
World Languages Day at The University of Kent, Medway Campus Monday 23 June 2014 On Monday 23 June 2014, 15 Year 8 students, Mr Lea and Miss Power joined schools from across the county for the World Languages Day, hosted by The University of Kent. We watched an MFL theatre performance before participating in different language workshops: Discovering Germany, The European Quiz, an Introduction to Mandarin, French Puppetry and Language, an Introduction to the World Cup in Portuguese, Welcome to Wales, a Spanish Theatre Workshop, Welcome to Japanese and an African Drumming Workshop. The French Puppetry and Japanese workshops proved to be the most popular. At lunchtime students could enter a European cheese and meat tasting contest, to guess which country they came from. They were also able to practise their language skills in asking for items at the World Fayre. It was an enjoyable day for all and it was an exciting opportunity to meet other schools, experience university life and to try new languages.
AS ART EXHIBITION, 14 JULY 2014 Thirty seven Year 12 and 13 students exhibited their work from the past year in our AS exhibition. Our five specialist A levels subjects in Fine Art, 3D Design, Textiles, Graphic Design and Photography were well represented as students, teachers, parents and directors gathered to look over the work. These students will go on to work on the second part of their courses in the coming year and that work will be exhibited at our annual Town Hall Exhibition.
The last non-uniform day proceeds went to The Community First Responders in the Dover area. A big thank you to everyone involved.
Herne Bay Regatta 2014 Congratulations to the students and staff who took part in the Herne Bay Rowing Regatta last weekend as part of the Dover Rowing Club. This junior 14 crew from Astor only started rowing 3 months ago and competed in the U16 race at Herne Bay coming a creditable 6th, gaining their first points for the Dover Rowing Club and beating older opposition.
Astor College’s International Musical will be ...
Coming soon to the White Cliffs Theatre ………..