2015 Belvedere Winter Ezine

2015 winter

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Educate Awards

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History Trips

Drama Festival

Carol Service

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Belvedere Remembers Spinning a Yarn

Educate Awards success GDST Rally

Drama Festival

Lockerbie Residential

University Fair

FEATURE STORIES

Becoming a Belv Sixth Former Belvedere Sports Awards Prize Giving Ceremony

What’s inside‌

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Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

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Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

Prize Giving Ceremony Being a Belvedere girl since Y7, I have had the pleasure of attending many Prize Giving Ceremonies so I know how prestigious the event is and the importance it holds in the academy’s calendar.

Therefore, I felt extremely privileged to be given the opportunity, as Head Girl, to deliver a speech. As Head Girl, I have attended various events, from which I have learnt a great deal, and I felt that it would be fitting to share these experiences with

the rest of the academy. Along with the rest of the Head Girl Team, on the day of Prize Giving, I spent the whole day at the cathedral helping to set up and organising seating arrangements for special guests, and I was also able to have a run through of my speech on the microphone.

When it came time for me to deliver my speech in front of over 1000 people including visitors from the GDST, Governing Body and our Guest Speaker,

Tracy Sheldon, I felt slightly apprehensive as I made my way to the platform.

I didn’t realise how big the cathedral actually was and what a huge event I was a part of until I saw the sea of faces in front of me! However, as soon as I began to speak, the nerves disappeared and I found the whole experience extremely rewarding.

Eloise Morris, Head Girl.

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Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

Hello, wonderful staff, pupils and parents of Belvedere Academy. My name is Tracy Sheldon Dip IMC, FIDM, MIOEE, BA Marketing and I had the honour of speaking at your awards ceremony in the truly inspiring Liverpool Anglican Cathedral.

I am sure that many of you would have no idea who I am so a little background for you: I grew up in Leeds on a council estate with my mum, sister, nanna and grandad – we had a loving and strong

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family who pushed and supported me to always do my best. My father was Chinese (unfortunately having 2 girls did not fit the Chinese way and he left when I was very young), my mum is English ( 1 of 5 but only 2 survived), my nanna was the youngest of 14 (Irish Catholic farmers) and my grandad was an only son from Jewish parents (an accountant and an opera singer).

This was my beginning and my firm foundation, which meant education, hard

work and resilience were the bedrock of my life and so far it’s been a great journey, which has given me lots of experience and a love for sharing them with others.

I have been a market trader from age 11, a bunny girl, cocktail waitress, shop girl, bar worker, graphic designer, head of graphics, design development director, international account director, European marketing director and MD. My work has taken me across the world from China to the USA

Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

and from Russia to Australia, and has allowed me to speak and work with many people from NEETS to professors. I have spoken in Germany, Holland and the USA, turned companies from loss to profit and coached and mentored children and adults from all walks of life; my last company being 41 million turnover.

My experiences have allowed me to learn that education never stops, sharing and keeping an open mind is an absolute,

understanding people and communication and listening are key skills. My greatest achievement is my 3 wonderful children, and, crikey, can we debate when we are all together. I’ve learnt that there are amazing people all around us, we just have to look out for them and surround ourselves with positive, realistic and knowledgeable people who make us think and learn.

It’s not about being famous or on TV (I regularly appear on the radio and I bet you have never heard of me). It’s about building

the kind of life and person you want to be and gaining the respect of your family, friends and peers in whatever walk of life you choose. So, I would like to say thank you for the honour of speaking to you, thank you for the honour of meeting such a wonderful group of young people and for the amazing music and I hope you will all be inspired to go forward to create your own path filled with interesting experiences.

Tracy Sheldon, Guest Speaker.

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Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

News from the PE Department

Congratulations to Grace Murphy , Anisha Singh and Amelia Corrie-Fairhurst who have successfully been selected for the Merseyside Academy and Development Netball squads. Fantastic achievements!

Handball at Belvedere Our Year 11 GCSE PE group have been learning Handball with our coach Andy.

They are learning lots of new skills and love Handball as a fantastic new sport.

Watch out for a new Handball Enrichment starting in the new year!

On the 7th July the PE Department hosted a fantastic Sports Awards evening in the Champions Suite at Liverpool Football Club, Anfield, to celebrate many sporting successes in 2014-15. Beth Tweddle was our special guest who presented a very inspiring speech. Staff and pupils had a lovely evening. We are all very excited for next year’s event.

Commitment to PE Enrichment: Amy Thurgood, Molly Spear, Anya Griffin, Claudia Wong, Phoebe Rhodes Stand-out performances in the following sports:

Coach: Sonsha Smith

Achievements 2014 - 1st place.

Hollywell Wales 16th May 3rd place slam 15th March 2015 Birmingham Kwon Grand e plac 5 - 1st Chester WKA 17th May 201 ir 2015 - 1/4 finals Alb in Spa s hip ons mpi WKU world cha place point fighting 15th November 2015 - 1st Hollywell Open Martial Arts fighting and 1st place continuous

Table Tennis – Holly Furlong

Tennis – Eloise Morris

Cheerleading- Elva Rwagasore

Dance-Mirian Otus-Nwaoha

Gymnastics - Ellie Tierney

Football - Rachel Smith

Rounders – Danah Al Shibani

Netball – Sophie Williams

KS4 Dedication to Sport: Louise Waterson/Danah Al Shibani Choreographer of the Year: Bupe Chander

Congratulations to our Year 10 Netball Team who got 4th place in the Plate at the GDST Netball Rally in Northampton!

Club name: Back Alive b Kickboxing clu

Badminton - Amy Sui

KS3 Dedication to Sport: Anisha Singh

Congratulations to Alex McCaldon who has been successfully selected to play in the County Lacrosse Squad. A fantastic achievement!

Jessica Cheng Kickboxing

Trampolining – Maya Vovnik

They beat Sutton, Portsmouth, Nottingham, drew with Bath and lost to Wimbledon by one goal in their first round.

They got through to the quarter finals where they beat Northwood 13-2. They lost in a very close semi-final by two goals against Ipswich. The standard of Netball was very high and our girls showed great skills, enthusiasm and sportsmanship. They really enjoyed the day.

Sports Coaches of the year: Charlie Davies, Maya Vovnik, Amber Robinson Sports Leadership Award: Ebony Judge, Louise McDonald, Samantha Gregory Netball Player of the Year: Y7 Amy Thurgood, Y8 Molly Jenkinson, Y9 Grace Murphy, Y10 Jazmin Mooney, Y11 Elizabeth Stuart, Senior Ellie Wilson Rounders Player of The Year: Y7 Sara Ahmed, Y8 Kaitlyn Hogg, Y9 Amelia Corrie Fairhurst, Y10 Phoebe Rhodes GCSE PE Student of Year 10: Tia Morris GCSE PE Student of Year 11: Louise Waterson AS–level Student of the Year: Holly Furlong A-level Student of the year: Alexandra Jones Contribution to Sport: Samira Abdo Commendation to Year 9 Netball and Rounders Team Team of the Year: Senior Netball Team Sports Woman of the Year: Ellie Wilson

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Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

B E LV E D E R E 2015

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The Belvedere Academy

Sixth Form Open Evening

Thursday, 28th January 2016, 5.30pm start with Principal’s talk at 7pm

17 Princes Park, Liverpool L8 3TF.

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0151 727 1284.

www.belvedereacademy.net

Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

Scholastic Book Fair prize won In the summer term the library hosted its annual Scholastic Book Fair. As well as having a wide range of books, posters and stationery to buy, the girls were able to enter Scholastic’s national competition, this time having to answer a question about ‘The Hunger Games’.

Quarry Bank Mill History Trip On the 30th of September, Year 9 visited Quarry Bank Mill, in Cheshire, following our History classwork on the change Britain underwent between the domestic and factory Industry in the 18th century.

We spent a few weeks focusing on the inventions made to help modernise life in the mill, such as the Flying Shuttle, the Spinning Jenny and the power loom. When we arrived we were split into our form groups and shown around various places in the mill. We were shown rather old giant machinery which was unimaginable in the classroom and shocking and impressive in real life. It was really interesting to go and see the machinery in real life after learning a lot about it.

deaf while working in the mill. We were told many horrific stories about how people were badly injured and the many dangers. We were also told a story about the tragic death of a 12 year old boy called Tom whose skull was crushed by one of the machines.

One of the most interesting things was the Apprentice House, in which we were told about the way boys’ education was better than girls; this affected us as we can see how lucky we are today; you would have to use your ‘Godly’ right hand for writing or be punished.

The experience was really eye-opening as you were able to see how dangerous working in the mill was and how little you earned from risking losing limbs like legs and arms, or even dying. It was so hard to imagine that children younger than us would sit at these incredibly large machines and slave away all day suffering gruesome and horrific injuries for something just as simple as a roof over their heads.

The bedrooms had around 60 children in and were about the same size as a small living room. The living conditions were not good and I don’t think many would like to stay there. We were shown where the children slept on hard hay beds and were told a story about how two children tried to escape! We also saw the kitchens and discovered the way gruel was made, the gardens, which the children maintained, and the Doctor’s office, as being sick would’ve stopped you from working.

Overall, we think that it was a very good trip and we would definitely go again.

The machines were extremely loud and it was very easy to see how people turned

Kayla Jones-Barbee and Isabelle Fletcher, Year 9.

This national competition was won by Isobel Jones, 8C, who was pleased to receive her copy of ‘Mockingjay’, a DVD of the film, a mockingjay pin and an iPad Mini; proof that, as the saying goes, you have to be in it to win it!

Meeting the Mayor In November, my brother and I went to the Town Hall as the Liverpool Lord Mayor was going to present us with certificates and medals. This was because we were nominated by a particular club for an award for taking part in lots of various activities outside of school and for raising money for different charities.

When we arrived at the Town Hall, there was a man who showed us around who explained the history of the Town Hall and the events they do there. It was really interesting. After that, my brother and I had to put on a gown before our award was presented to us. Then, the Lord Mayor came to us and presented us with our certificates and medals. After that, the Lord Mayor led us to his VIP room and offered us tea and biscuits. We talked about the various activities that I do and why he chose my brother and I for this award. The Lord Mayor was very pleasant to us. It was such a special event where I felt happy, proud and honoured to have met the Liverpool Lord Mayor.

Yasmin Al-Zuhairi, Year 9.

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News from the Drama Department Theatre Trips

KS3 Drama Enrichment and Talent Show

Year 13 Professional Physical Theatre Workshop

The very popular, Key Stage 3 Drama Club, directed by Miss Blundell and her small team of Year 10 students, presented ‘Belvedere’s Got Talent’ on Tuesday 1st December 2015. Students were asked to showcase their talent, whether it be acting, singing or dancing and perform for the rest of the club in front of Amanda Holden (Miss Blundell) and the nasty Simon Cowell (Mr Hill). All acts performed incredibly!

Year 13 had the pleasure to work alongside and be directed by a trained actor from the Tmesis Theatre Company. The Physical Theatre Company, which is currently touring nationally with their performance of ‘That’s Amore’, consists of trained actors who have performed with other theatre groups such as Frantic Assembly.

Awards were given to all those who took part within the talent show, with Rosie Gereson-Quinn and Robyn Strahan winning third place for their hilarious comedy sketch. In second place came Ella Waller and her Year 7 dance troupe and in first place came Kaitlyn Hogg and Annie Taylor for their beautiful, well-choreographed dance. Well done ladies!

The girls enjoyed a three hour workshop where they explored physicality and gesture through Physical Theatre.

This intense workshop enabled the Year 13 class to experiment with their spatial awareness, movements, creating relationships and symbolic representations on the stage.

Year 13 Drama and Theatre Studies students had the opportunity to see a production of The Bogus Woman at The Unity Theatre which explored the tale of an African woman arriving in a strange country fleeing for her life, seeking safety and asylum. Having committed no crime she was indefinitely confined, interrogated, humiliated and abused. She witnessed the cruelty of the authorities and their casual disregard for an individual’s human rights – that country was England. This performance was intense and prevalent in today’s society and used as stimuli for a devised piece of theatre that all of Year 12 will see in January.

Also, the Drama Department took over 50 pupils to see the fantastic performance of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at The Lowry Theatre, Salford. This performance told the tale of a 15 year old Christopher Boone, a boy with Asperger Syndrome and his investigation into the discovery of a dead dog, Wellington. The journey was both physical and psychological and pupils had the delight of seeing over 90000 lights in action to act as the perfect framing device for Christopher’s condition. Pupils are now working hard to write theatre reviews about this performance that will make up part of their GCSE and AS Level grade.

Looking for rooms for community hire?

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Weekends, evenings, summer holidays? We have successfully opened our doors and facilities to summer schools, church groups, dance companies and fitness groups; isn’t it time you thought of hiring our facilities to host your community event or club? You’ll be suprised how little it costs, so call us on 0151 727 1284 or email facilities@belvedereacademy.net

Belvidere Road Church has been running its services and holiday clubs at the academy for over three years now. We have been extremely impressed with the facilities available to us at the academy.

We comfortably host our Sunday Services, our Wednesday midweek meeting, and our Friday evening children’s and youth clubs.

And there’s plenty of room for the kids to play too! Why not pop along on a Friday evening (6:15) or Sunday morning (10:15) to see more?

Graeme Back, Belvidere Road Church.

Great facilities available: Sports Hall, Multi-use Hall with stage, 14 Dance and Drama studios and Lecture Theatre.

Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

Boxes and bakes - great fundraising events In the first two weeks back in November, our fantastic Key Stage 3 students, led by the Head Girl Team pulled out all the stops to give children who are less fortunate than themselves a lovely Christmas present.

We managed to fill 200 shoe boxes with gifts to be sent off in time for Christmas.

We also raised ÂŁ600 for the postage of these boxes through a bake sale, cinema lunchtimes and form class collections.

Thank you to all the girls and form tutors for your hard work, and to staff and pupils throughout the school who also supported our campaign.

Mrs Mansfield, Key Stage 3 Manager.

lights, camera, action...

The academy have recently created a new photography studio, which features professional backdrops and lighting. It will allow our Creative Arts and Media Studies students to create some professional looking work that would usually require bringing in a professional. A Level students in Art, Media Studies, Textiles and Graphics have already been making great use of the new facility with both photography and filming taking place.

One student is Samantha Abraham in Year 13, who designed and created both of these dresses.

The Pugugly doll has been created by AmberRose Finlayson in Year 10; two examples of outstanding work at both levels in Textiles!

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Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

GDST Rally 2015 On Wednesday the 16th of September we went to Nottingham to take part in the GDST Trust Rally against 6 other Northern Trust schools.

In the morning the Senior Rounders Team played against Newcastle, Shrewsbury and Birkenhead. Against Newcastle we managed to beat them 6 rounders to 2 with excellent fielding and batting but unfortunately, Shrewsbury and Birkenhead managed to just beat us and we ended up coming 3rd in our pool.

Later in the afternoon, the Volleyball Team played against all the other schools winning most of our games against schools who have been playing together for years, whereas we had only been practising for a week together and we managed to come second.

all the teams were amazing, and I enjoyed trying to rise to that level. Everybody seemed to have a smile on their face and came home pleased with what they had achieved.

This year being the third Trust Rally I have competed in, it seemed better than the last and so it is becoming one of the most enjoyable trips of the academic year.

This is particularly true in the swimming where I raced 50m Butterfly and received an amazing amount of encouragement from my younger team members, which I reciprocated during their race. I can’t wait to do it again next year!

trophy for 1st place for Table Tennis. They congratulated us on our win and hopefully we will see them again next year.

Claudia Wong, Year 10.

Junior Rounders I really enjoyed the Trust Rally. It was fun having a day of sports and friendly competition between other schools.

It was really nice to see how supportive our teams were to one another and watching them do so well against the other teams. I can’t wait for next year.

Lili Johnstone, Year 12.

By Anna Jope

Table Tennis Badminton

Thank you to the PE department for organising the day; we all had a great time with some excellent performances. Well played, everyone!

Sophie Williams, Year 13.

On the journey to Nottingham High School for the GDST Trust Rally it started to rain and took 3 hours to arrive. We were introduced to the rules by the Head of PE and were told how many games we would be playing. We played against Sheffield, Birkenhead, Newcastle, Nottingham, Northampton and Shrewsbury.

Swimming Taking part in the Trust Rally was really good fun but with a highly competitive atmosphere. The sporting standards of

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When we played against Nottingham, Yasmin and I made 2 friends who were called Zara and Katherine who are in Year 12. Yasmin and I were presented with a

This year Lauren and I went to the GDST Rally to compete in Badminton. The competition was extremely high and even though we didn’t win, it was a lot of fun.

We got to play against very high level badminton players and saw how good you have to be to play the sport at a high level.

We all had a great time at the Trust Rally and can’t wait for next year!

Anisha Singh and Lauren Evans, Year 10.

Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

Belvedere wins at Educate Awards Belvedere won the Outstanding Arts in a Secondary School category at the Educate Awards Ceremony.

It was a fantastic showcase for the talents of our girls; our Chamber Choir kicked off proceedings in front of the 500 guests gathered for the red carpet inspired ceremony held at the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. Later in the evening, the talented Darci Shaw sang ‘Where is Love’ from our production of Oliver and held the whole audience captivated.

Congratulations to all involved with the award and the performances!

Photos © Educate Magazine

special congratulations to Mr O Keefe who A was shortlisted for Teacher of the Year.

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D R AMA l a v i t s e f With the lights dimmed low, a theatrical haze in the room, and an awaiting audience of more than 300 staff and students, the Drama Festival 2015 erupted to a Wembley like audience. The day’s proceedings started with the, now annual, introduction video involving KS3 tutors, and others, with a mockumentary satirising the struggles of getting together a performance for the festival itself.

This year’s Drama Festival was a great success and has grown in size yet again. This year saw more than 200 performers, led by a strong team of 80+ Year 12 students as Directors, Assistants, Costume Designers, Technical Assistants and Finance Directors.

It was also great to see that this year there were more Belvedere girls who had joined us from other schools around the city really embracing the challenges and rewards of being part of the festival.

Chicago, Titanic, Grease, and many more. These sorts of performances required a lot of effort to create with outstanding visual representations and more money went into costume this year than any other, mostly sourced and made by the Year 12s themselves.

The atmosphere was harnessed by the incredible job of the Tech Team. Operating a range of LED, candescent, stage blinders, follow spots, a haze machine, and a snow machine, along with a host of microphones and 100’s of sound cues, the day had a professional feel.

The Drama Festival requires an incredible amount of hard work, passion, determination and drive from all involved and this year it all paid off – we look forward to next year’s performances already!

1st Place: 9N Titanic 2nd Place: 9M Camp Rock

The line-up of the show this year was one of the most challenging and current.

We saw new writing based on shows such as Lion King, The Addams Family,

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3rd Place: 8D Genie in Oz Mr Hill.

Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

Best Actress

Best Singer

Best Dancer

3rd Place 8D

2nd Place 9M Winners 9N

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Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

Record numbers attend our Assessment Morning We received a record-breaking 575 applications for places at Belvedere next year. Year 6 pupils attended Belvedere’s Assessment Morning hopeful that they will be one of our next cohort.

Despite the early Saturday start (some early birds started queuing about 7.30am), huge queues snaked from the entrance of Belvidere Road all the way down to Princes

Park gates for our Year 6 Assessment Morning. Once again, these fantastic figures prove how popular the academy is with families in Liverpool.

help all of our visitors feel at ease. Many of them couldn’t believe that it was a year since they had been sitting the entrance exam.

The girls were registered and by 9am were sitting their entrance exams. During break time, the girls got to make new friends and chat with our current Year 7 girls about life as a Belvedere girl.

The morning seemed to go by very quickly and soon it was time for all of the parents to come through and collect their daughters. We look forward to welcoming many of them next September as our new ‘Belvedere Girls’!

Over 70 of our current Year 7 girls gave up their Saturday morning to come and

Mr McGarry.

On the 16th October, the wellbeing team and the whole of Year 13 came together to raise money for The Teenage Cancer Trust. With over a thousand cakes we managed to raise over a thousand pounds. The Sixth Form office was filled to the brim with cakes and sweet treats which the Sixth Form organised and arranged for the sale.

Alongside this there was a walk around the park which helped us raise more money. We would like to thank everyone for their support and donations.

Sofia Berndt, Fern Scanlon and Erin Bannister, Year 13.

Looking for rooms for conference hire?

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Large rooms available for conference hire which include use of a 4.4m wide & 3.2m high projector screen, a large stage with PA microphone and sound system (and mixing desk) and lights. Why not impress your clients; you’ll be suprised how little it costs, so call us on 0151 727 1284 or email facilities@belvedereacademy.net

Thanks for hosting the Academy Gifted and Talented day at Belvedere.

There were 200 students in attendance... all of the schools who attended were deeply impressed with Belvedere and the conference facilities you provided. You may not be aware of the delicious lunch that your caterers provided for the staff, or of the swift response to provide lunches without warning for students who had forgotten to bring food with them. All very kind. The atmosphere was very special. Every good wish - and thanks again.

Julie Arliss, ACADEMY CONFERENCES.

Great facilities available: Sports Hall, Multi-use Hall with stage, 20 Dance and Drama studios and Lecture Theatre.

Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

On Monday 9th to Wednesday the 11th of November Year 7 went to Lockerbie Manor, Scotland. This trip was so the Year 7 girls could bond with each other and we were not just in forms or colour groups, which was great because that way we could all mix together.

I loved Lockerbie because it was a great way for me to make new friends and there were a lot of teamwork activities, which were fun.

The three days were jam-packed with fun activities, such as: blind trail, the climb, abseiling, low ropes, zip wire and lots more to encourage us to push our boundaries and build our confidence. We overcame wet and windy weather and we were exhausted when we came home. I have to say I slept well Wednesday evening!

Charlotte Smith-Brown, Year 7.

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Reflexion Patterns Maths Lecture Fun! Mathematicians from Years 12 and 13 were treated to an early festive present when Professor Balazs Szendroi from St Peter’s College, Oxford came to deliver a special Christmas lecture. The title of the lecture was Reflexion Patterns and it looked at tessellations in Euclidean, Spherical and Hyperbolic Geometry.

The lecture provided an insight into Mathematics beyond A-Level and allowed

Year 9 trip International Slavery Museum On Monday 30th November, Year 9 went on a trip to the International Slavery Museum in the Albert Dock. We are currently studying about Slavery, so this

girls to investigate both the complexity and also witness the beauty of solving unusual mathematical problems.

Many of the top mathematicians in the school were present and it was amazing to see Belvedere Girls outshine their teachers with their problem solving genius. Even Professor Szendroi was impressed, and he commented on the ‘excellent’ mathematical ability of the

was a great help in lessons. We were given a booklet about the exhibitions in the museums and were asked to walk around and find things like objects and pictures. It was really interesting and showed us how Liverpool was involved in the slave trade.

We found it interesting that some of the names of the streets we know today such as Penny Lane and Rodney Street were named after people who made their money from the slave trade. We saw how

girls present; and hoped it would inspire them to consider studying Mathematics at University. He went on to give some girls career advice and talked about life as a leading academic in his field. Professor Szendroi was visiting as part of the Oxford University outreach programme, and similar visits are expected to take place in the near future.

Mr Wright, Head of Mathematics.

the slaves were treated on the plantations and how they were punished with whips and branding tools.

As we went through the museum we saw how life was after slavery had been abolished. We saw a Ku Klux Klan outfit (which was very intimidating) and more information about the civil rights movement. A fun day out was had by all!

Natalie Moore and Niamh Herrity, Year 9.

Looking for rooms for fairs or concert hire?

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Large rooms available for concert hire or for arts fairs which easily can accommodate over 550 people. Great location for any event plus stage and sound system also available. Why not host your event at Belvedere; you’ll be suprised how little it costs, so call us on 0151 727 1284 or email facilities@belvedereacademy.net

Recently hosted gigs: MOBO winners Mic Lowry, The Valentine 3. Events have included hosting over twenty of the top universities at the University Fair and a Kick Racism Out event

Great facilities available: Sports Hall, Multi-use Hall with stage, Dance and Drama studios and Lecture Theatre.

Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

Parent Portal Coming Soon!

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Great sporting facilties to host your tournament or sports and fitness clubs. A huge 610m2 sports hall, a fully equipped gym plus outdoor courts. We have hosted an array of clubs and sporting events. Why not host yours at Belvedere; you’ll be suprised how little it costs, so call us on 0151 727 1284 or email facilities@belvedereacademy.net

Olympic gymnast Rebecca Tunney using our facilities, including our fully equipped gym and great indoor and outdoor hall and courts for hire.

Great facilities available: Sports Hall, Multi-use Hall with stage, 23 Dance and Drama studios and Lecture Theatre.

Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

GRAPHICS Y11 SHOWCASE December saw my Year 11 class sit their Graphics Mock; they produced designs in response to a brief that asked them to produce a retail environment with a Natural or Urban theme. The girls have produced, arguably, the strongest outcomes for a mock exam - well done, everyone! There are so many great designs, but not enough room to showcase them all.

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1. Siobhan’s elegant identity design for her home-made candle shop ‘Lit’.

2. Hannah’s illuminating ‘Night Owl’ shop and bus stand designs.

3. Danya’s mix of natural and urban for her ‘Concrete Jungle’ imagery.

4. Holly’s bold urban colour scheme juxtaposed with shapes from nature.

5. Angela’s illustrative stationery for her ‘The Paper Tree’ shop.

6. Sana’s designs sucessfully carried across the inside and outside and using 3D modelling for her cup.

Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

GRAPHICS Y11 SHOWCASE

9.

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I showed the girls’ work to International Design Agency, Circle Square. Their retail clients include Samsung, Molten Brown, Ray Ban, Cadburys and Swatch. Their Creative Director, Dan Novakovic, was suitably impressed - some of his feedback is included alongside the girls’ work.

Dan Novakovic, Creative Director, Circle Square

Mr Dykeaylen, Subject Leader Graphics.

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7. Louise’s integartion of photography within her typographic logo.

8. Charlotte used 3D modelling for her logo for her children’s book store.

9. Essra’s identity design for her Bean Café, cleverly using a cup to replace the letter ‘e’.

10. Isobel’s packaging design for her Skyline Tea range utilising the London Eye as an iconic feature.

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11. Martha’s interior/exterior and cup for Wings & Web Cafe beautifully mixing urban and natural.

12. L auryn’s paper cut logo and colouful illustrations and pattern for her ‘Urban Bakes’ work.

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Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

November 2015 saw the biennial Belvedere University Fair take place, with almost forty universities from across the UK visiting Belvedere to speak to students and parents. All girls from Y9-13 were invited and we had a huge turnout - not bad for a rainy November evening!

The event gave pupils an opportunity to speak to a wide range of universities and learn more about student life, courses and entry requirements.

Having the event in school meant that universities could give Belvedere girls their undivided attention, and our girls certainly made use of the expertise on offer! Many unis had long queues all night, but our students’ enthusiasm was infectious and the uni representatives were pleased to be taking questions until the end.

Before the fair kicked off, The University of Leeds offered a talk on preparing for university life; this proved to be very popular with standing room only. Year 10

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were well represented at this talk – how fabulous to see them thinking about the future at such a young age! The University of Liverpool also offered a talk at bit later on, this time about student finance, which hopefully reassured parents!

We lost count of the amount of universities that commented on how outstanding our pupils were - in particular the maturity and knowledge shown by the younger students. One university said how rare it was to see such young pupils asking such

well thought out questions, whilst others made sure they were on the invitation list for forthcoming events.

Overall, Belvedere girls yet again represented themselves brilliantly, and hopefully pupils and parents were able to find out some useful information to help them with their next steps.

(Barry Cunliffe is Belvedere’s Independent Careers Advisor, and pupils can make appointments with him if they have further questions. See Ms Carroll to arrange.)

‘It was lovely to see so many Belvedere Girls talking to Higher Education establishments about their future options’

Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

‘It was a great opportunity for my daughter – no other school does this!

Another great opportunity provided by Belvedere’

‘The people from the unis seemed really helpful, they made it less scary and I know I can ask more questions if I need to’ ‘I thought it was useful because now I know what to pick for A Level’

‘It was really useful as I realised how much my subject choices can influence my choice of university’ ‘The uni fair was a good experience, helping me choose my options and knowing what I need to do to get my dream job’ 27

Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

The Belvedere Academy Chamber Choir – From Strength to Strength The highly sought after Belvedere Chamber Choir is made up of 40 girls, with ages ranging from 11 - 17. The Chamber Choir is only two years old, but has already performed at many prestigious events throughout the North West.

Two places have become available to join the Chamber Choir and auditions will be held in January. Over 40 girls auditioned in September for these highly sought after places. If you are interested in auditioning then please see Mr O’Keeffe in January.

Last year the Chamber Choir was awarded 1st place in the Youth Choir Competition at the Wirral Music Festival, which was a marvellous achievement, considering the age of the Choir.

Charlotte Flynn of Year 8 says, “Despite our different ages, we are all really good mates. I was really shy in Year 7 but the Chamber Choir has given me loads of confidence, I love it!”

Since then, the Choir have gone on to perform in front of thousands of people, as part of the Liverpool “Light Night” celebrations at Liverpool Cathedral, and we also had the honour of performing alongside the Wirral Symphony Orchestra at Chester Cathedral in July.

Olivia Reynolds of Year 9 says, “We are like a big family and we love singing together, it’s the best!”

We have another extremely busy year ahead, singing at the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral four times over the next few months, including our School Prize Giving, our Carol Service, the prestigious “Educate Awards” and the wonderful “Coming of Christmas”, on behalf of a nationwide charity. The Chamber Choir has already been asked to sing at many events next year by national organisations and they have their first international tour to Barcelona in July 2016! The Chamber Choir also plan to make their first professional recording soon too. Very exciting times ahead indeed!

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“The Chamber Choir of The Belvedere Academy Liverpool are one of the top school choirs in the UK today. Their performances are of a very high standard, combining true musical talent and a discipline that delivers some challenging repertoire which is usually beyond the range of a school choir.

The Belvedere Academy enjoys an enviable reputation and an award-winning arts department, from which this chamber Choir will make its inaugural international tour in July 2016 to Barcelona. The reputation of Liverpool will be safe in their hands and will be well represented abroad by this incredible ensemble.” Sandra Parr, Artistic Planning Director (Orchestra & Ensembles), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.

Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

Spinning a Yarn…

On the 30th September the Science Department took Year 9 students to Quarry Bank Mill in Cheshire, to study how water and steam can be used to drive machinery and generate electricity, and to explore the Industrial Revolution. The pupils were given a tour of the Mill and the Apprentice House, and experienced how children their age lived over a century ago.

“I thought the trip was amazing. I also got to stand where famous people stood, who starred in the Channel 4 series The Mill.”

Ria Gowland.

“It was very educational, but fun at the same time. I learnt a lot.” Noor Elgallal.

“Quarry Bank Mill was a really interesting trip. I learnt a lot of facts. I really liked the water powered machinery and the stories told by the tour guide,” Summer Boullet.

“The Apprentice House was the best part of the trip as we learnt how the apprentices lived and about their hard working conditions. I also enjoyed seeing the weaving machines in action,” Amy Roberts, Year 9.

Merseyside Medical Challenge Day ‘Great experience’, ‘Enjoyable’ and ‘A great opportunity’, were just a few of the comments that some of our Year 10 girls said on a recent visit to the Merseyside Medical Challenge Day. Organised by Dr Vaquer, several of our Year 10 students, with an interest in medical careers, got a unique opportunity to experience for themselves what life in the medical profession might actually be like.

The day itself, lasting some four hours, was packed full of exciting activities and guest speakers, which really brought to life the image of what futures in medicine might actually entail.

The activities for our students were endless; they got to learn how to perform CPR; they got to perform virtual dissection;

and they got to ask medical students lots of questions about their programmes of study, which all said, amounted to a really immersive experience for our girls.

Two of our girls who attended the day, Lily and Sameera, said, “The trip was a great opportunity to learn about what we might want to do when we are older. We learnt a lot of new skills that we will definitely utilise in the future and want to thank Dr Vaquer for taking the time to organise this worthwhile experience for us. That said, we really enjoyed the day and are now a lot clearer about our futures”.

If you would like to know more about the experience of these girls please don’t hesitate to speak to them. They and Dr Vaquer are more than happy to share as much information about the experience with you.

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Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

A close second in the Kids’ Lit Quiz The Kids’ Lit Quiz is an international literature competition that celebrates the ‘sport of reading’; allowing participants aged 10 to 13 to compete for great prizes.

The atmosphere fizzled with excitement, which mounted as the answers from each category were read out and the scores totted up.

The Merseyside regional heat was held at Merchant Taylors’ Boys’ School on Thursday 5th November. 12 local schools took part, entering a maximum of two teams each. We were also joined by a team of authors, including Alan Gibbons and Cathy Cassidy.

There was a chance for the top scoring teams in each category to answer bonus questions for extra prizes. These were hotly contested but the Belvedere team were top scorers three times, more than any other school, winning a free book each.

Belvedere was represented for the first time at this event by Year 7 students Aamina Ho, Evie McCloskey-Kelly, Hannah Adam and Daisy Norman.

In preparation, the girls had checked out extra library books to read during the half term holiday and were ready to answer 100 questions from ten different categories.

The questions were challenging but that didn’t stop the Belvedere team racing to a half-time lead.

Competition was fierce and, in the end, Belvedere came away with second place; a remarkable achievement. West Kirby Grammar came first with a lead of only one and a half points and will compete in the national heats in Oxford to secure a place in the world finals, held in New Zealand.

Our girls will be back next year to play as a Year 8 team. There will be the opportunity for the new cohort of Year 7s to earn a place representing Belvedere at this exciting competition.

UK Youth Parliament House of Commons Debate On Friday the 13th November, I was one of almost 300 members of UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) to sit on the famous green benches of the House of Commons.

I attended as a Member of Youth Parliament for Liverpool. Entering the chamber was an exciting experience. Shortly after everyone was seated, a letter was read out on behalf of the Prime Minister, in which he wished everyone an unforgettable experience. Other MP’s including Chris Bryant (Labour MP) and Rob Wilson (Minister for Civil Society) also spoke

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throughout the day. We participated in 5 debates covering religious discrimination, mental health services, public transport, a curriculum for life and the living wage.

The debates were chaired by John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons and aired live on the BBC Parliament channel.

It was a real privilege to speak in the public transport debate. It was quite a nerveracking but truly incredible experience!

Maia Gaynor, Year 12.

Could you win the Kids’ Lit Quiz? Answer the following questions taken from the KLQ website.

1. What bird’s singing, according to Hans Christian Andersen, brought tears to the Chinese Emperor’s heart?

2. W hat country forced its citizens to sign a Treaty of Treason?

3. The repetition of two or more words with the same letter is known as what?

4. Whose nickname as a student was Padfoot?

5. Who owned a long Elvish dagger called Sting?

Answers: 1. The Nightingale, 2. Panem, 3. Alliteration, 4. Sirius Black, 5. Bilbo Baggins.

Miss Murphy, Librarian.

Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

Make It Enterprise Challenge Final On Tuesday 22nd September 2015, 16 girls in Year 10 and 11 girls went for the ‘Make It Final 2015’ at Manchester Airport’s Concorde Conference Centre.

The event, delivered by The Manufacturing Institute and sponsored by Manchester Airport’s Group, challenged teams of 13 and 14 year-olds to set up their own minimanufacturing businesses and design, cost and market a new product.

Said Neil Robinson, M.A.G CSR Director: “As we continue to grow, we look to the workforce of the future to develop the key skills in science, engineering and maths

that are so critical to employers. We are delighted to support the Make-It final as just one way we can play our part to ensure that we engage and excite the brightest young minds in the region.”

This event was a culmination of a series of Make It Enterprising Challenge heats which have been sponsored by manufacturing companies across the North West including Survitec, Siemens, McBride, BAE Systems, Nuclear Management Partners and Kelloggs. The two year-long competition has attracted 110 schools and involved almost 900 pupils and the teams competing in the Grand Final have already

proved their ingenuity and initiative as winners of sub-regional heats.

Teams completed a series of manufacturing themed tasks, each taking on job roles from managing director to operations managers through to finance and sales and marketing managers. Teams were tasked with developing a brand and logo for their company before pitching their ideas in a Dragons’ Den-style presentation to industry experts. Despite not being overall winners, the girls were absolutely fantastic and a credit to our school.

Miss Luong.

Our artists’ work appears in calendar This year, girls from The Belvedere Academy were invited to create the artwork for Forrest Recruitment’s 2016 calendar. The calendar will be circulated throughout the North West of England, so it was a fantastic opportunity for any budding artist.

There were lots of fantastic entries, which left the judging panel an extremely difficult task of choosing 12 designs, one for each month. They were massively impressed with the standard of artwork. So much so, that they couldn’t decide on only 12 designs. Instead they chose 13; one for the front cover too.

Each girl will receive a £25 voucher for Liverpool One. The Belvedere Academy will also receive £1000 to invest in the Art department, so Mr Mason would like to thank the girls for their participation.

Here is the list of winners: Ellie Owens, Amy Smith, Shalet Scariah, Kate Gallagher, Natalie Moore, Emma Tracy, Summer Boullet, Amaia Hemmings, Tirmeiya Owens, Aminah Graham, Brooklyn Neal, Kimberley Wilson, Natasha Le. Mr Mason.

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Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

STREAM 2015 Book Festival On Saturday 7th November, eight lucky Belvedere girls travelled to Streatham & Clapham High School in London to attend STREAM 2015.

STREAM is a free book festival for readers of all ages from nursery school to young adult. This year, there was a fantastic lineup of authors, illustrators and events.

Miss Murphy, Miss Fielding, Jasmine Parry, Rachel Hugill (both Year 7), Louise Hugill, Natasha Chu, Kelly He (Year 8), Kayla Jones-Barbee, Mirian Otus-Nwaoha and Natasha Wood (Year 9) caught the ‘red eye’ train to Euston at 6.45a.m. We had a further two Tube trains and a long walk from the station ahead of us to arrive in time for the 10 a.m. start.

The first session was in the marquee with Children’s Laureate Chris Riddell and author Michael Rosen who have joined

up to create a book together, ‘A Great Big Cuddle’. Michael Rosen entertained a large crowd with readings of his poetry, encouraging us all to join in, while Chris Riddell illustrated live; a camera set up to show him drawing in real time.

After that, we had a choice of talks to attend, with many events happening simultaneously around the school. We heard Katherine Woodfine and Esme Kerr discuss their books: ‘The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow’, ‘The Glass Bird Girl’ and ‘Mischief at Midnight’ and talk about Edwardians, villains and the attraction of mystery/adventure books.

The ‘Girl Power’ session with Jenny McLachlan, Katy Birchall and Lucy Saxon was chaired by Trish Haplin, Editor-in-Chief of ‘Marie Claire’. The authors discussed female characters in the books and were interesting, funny and relatable.

Stars back teacher’s marathon I am running the Virgin London Marathon with my partner to raise money for Children with Cancer.

The aims of the amazing charity are to determine the causes, find cures and provide care for children with cancer.

Children with Cancer UK is the leading national children’s charity dedicated to the fight against childhood cancer.

Almost 4,000 children and young people are diagnosed with cancer every year in the UK.

For more information visit

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www.childrenwithcancer.org.uk/ about-us.

Mrs Traynor.

Barry Cunningham, the man famous for discovering J.K Rowling and Harry Potter, chaired a discussion with authors Sam Hepburn and Emma Shevah, discussing diversity in books.

We also attended the book shop, had our books signed by the authors and ate a lot of food bought from the various stalls outside, with Natasha Wood earning a special mention for sampling literally everything the catering company had to offer.

We ended the day with the long hike to the underground, riding the cramped, hot Tube back to Euston and the relaxing train journey to Lime Street Station. It was a long, busy, yet enjoyable day. Special thanks to Streatham & Clapham for hosting and to the G.D.S.T. for sponsoring us and giving the girls this opportunity.

Miss Murphy, Librarian.

Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

Belvedere pays its respects On Sunday 8th November 2015 we had the honour of taking part in Liverpool’s annual Service of Remembrance at St George’s Hall. We both felt privileged in being asked to lay a wreath of dedication on behalf of everyone at Belvedere. We got to choose the wreath with Miss Jones and decided to include a blue ribbon to go across it to represent Belvedere. We also had the tricky job of deciding what text to put on the memorial card - we chose ‘In memory of many, in honour of all, The Belvedere Academy thanks you’ as we felt this was a fitting tribute to all the brave soldiers who have died.

When we arrived at St George’s Hall we both felt nervous but excited. The building looked so impressive with the poppies cascading down the side. We found out

afterwards that the poppy display was comprised of several thousand handmade ceramic poppies.

was nerve-wracking but we both felt very honoured to represent the academy at such an important event.

We nervously went to find our wreath and got ready for our role in the service. We had to line up in front of the congregation and as we walked down the steps of the cenotaph we realised how many people were actually there. We knew it would be busy but nothing prepared us for the sea of faces ahead.

Phoebe Jones and Charlotte Smith-Brown Year 7.

The service started with a musical tribute and prayers which created a poignant atmosphere. The sounding of the Last Post signalled the beginning of a two minute silence. Finally, the time came for us to lay the wreath. We carried it carefully across the cenotaph and place it down slowly. It

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Why not advertise your business in our magazine? . .. s d n a s u o h t y b n e e s e Your advert could b from teens to parents to grandparents ..

.

...it makes sense to advertise your business or event in the Belvedere magazine.

Low cost, high coverage, wide audience range.

See the opposite for details and our fantastic rate card.

Belvedere Ezine | Winter Edition 2015

ousands... th by en se be d ul co rt ve ad Your from teens to parents to grandparents ...

...it makes sense to advertise your business or event in the Belvedere magazine.

The Belvedere Academy magazine is published four times a year, in September, January, April and June. 1500 electronic copies are widely distributed among parents, primary schools, local businesses, nurseries and churches. Advertising with us in the magazine will reach a large target audience throughout Liverpool.

All revenue is put back into the production of the magazine.

GREAT RATES! The advertising rates and advert dimensions are: • PRIME POSITION FULL PAGE COLOUR ADVERTISEMENT ONLY £250 Position - back cover or on the inside front or back cover. 210mm x 297mm.

• FULL INSIDE PAGE COLOUR ADVERTISEMENT ONLY £200 210mm x 297mm.

• 1/2 PAGE INSIDE PAGE COLOUR ADVERTISEMENT ONLY £175 Landscape 210mm x 148mm or Portrait 148mm x 210mm.

Low cost, high coverage, wide audience range.

FORTHCOMING DATES FOR YOUR DIARY JAN

28 FEB

01 FEB

22 MAR

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Sixth Form Open Evening

Y9 Parents’ Evening 4.00-6.30pm

Y10 Parents’ Evening 4.00-6.30pm

Y8 Parents’ Evening 4.00-6.30pm

It’s easy to book your space: To place your advertisement, please contact Mr Peter Dykeaylen on 0151 727 1284. Advertisements should be submitted electronically as either high resolution JPEG files or as PDF files, either on CD or emailed to p.dykeaylen@belvedereacademy.net Cheques should be made payable to GDST Academy Trust.

All copies and payments must be received one month before publication.

The magazine is also published online at issuu.com, publicising both the school on a global level and also any potential advertisers.

Many thanks to teaching staff who have contributed articles and photographs. For more news please visit www.belvedereacademy.net If you have any comments or suggestions for the magazine then please contact Mr Peter Dykeaylen: p.dykeaylen@belvedereacademy.net The Belvedere Academy, 17 Belvedere Road, Princes Park, Liverpool, L8 3TF. 0151 727 1284 E: info@belvedereacademy.net www.belvedereacademy.net

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Our A Level Graphics students have just completed their mocks. Some of their work was of a very high standard. Owing to the fact the students use industry standard software (Photoshop, Illustrator and In Design) and have access to photographic studios, not only are they producing professional looking design work, they also are fully equipped for a role in the ever growing creative industries.

Top Left: Nadia’s colourful ink and mixed media illustrations for Tarot cards. Top Right: Ellis’ book cover design for Japanese Folklore realised beautifully on an bus stand advertisement. Above: Emily’s poster for the V&A questioning what is beauty.

Above right: Laura’s campaign to promote respect for our police, fire and ambulance crews and Heather’s mixed media DVD cover for a range of superhero films.

Right: Liz’s clever brand identity for a Liverpool sight seeing company called ‘ExciteSeeing’ realised on an information sign and Amber’s retro-50’s inspired packaging for a range of healthy foods and drinks.

Year 12’s Heroes, Myths and Legend project

Year 13’s Personal Investigation