Caludon Update Spring 2019

April 2019

Headteacher’s Letter News Student Successes Visitors & Events Charity Events

Student Leaders Trips & Visits Subject News & Updates Sports News

Photograph: Y12 and Y13 students in Paris

In this issue...

3 Headteacher’s Letter 4 News 6 Student Successes 8 Visitors, Events & Performances 16 Maths News 17 Charity Events 18 Food Technology News 20 Trips and Visits 22 Other News 23 Keeping Children Safe and Healthy 26 Y7 Trips & Events 28 Student Leaders 29 World Book Day 30 Y7 & MFL Events 32 Sports News

Headteacher’s Letter

“Going the extra mile...”

Dear Parents and Carers, We are drawing to the end of another busy and very long term; the time since Christmas seems to have flown by!

You will know that very early on in the term, Tuesday 5 February, our school was inspected

by Ofsted, and the outcome glowingly acknowledged our commitment to develop the ‘whole child’, as well as ensuring your children achieve their best.

The Ofsted team reported that, as well as “This school

continues to be good”: “The headteacher and other senior leaders have created a culture in which staff and pupils feel confident and valued.

Pupils clearly enjoy school. They are highly appreciative that staff are consistently prepared to do ‘whatever it takes’ to support their learning. Staff, pupils and governors have worked well together to ensure that the school’s motto, ‘respect to all, from all’, is a part of everything that goes on in the school. Pupils are proud of their school.”

I truly believe that none of this would exist without the day to day support and care for our pupils and the commitment to go the extra mile for them, along with the partnership that we share with you as parents and carers.

‘Going the extra mile‘ has meant that this term has ended,

once again, with our graduation celebrations. I am so proud of our students who have demonstrated excellent effort and behaviour within class, commitment to their home learning and respect to all.

‘Going the extra mile’ also means that you will read in this Caludon Update about the fantastic activities that your children have taken part in and I am sure that you will be very impressed by their achievements.

I know students have been looking forward to the holidays and I wish you all a happy and restful Easter.

Best wishes,

Mrs M Marr Ms A Dudgeon Headteacher Associate Headteacher

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News Duke of Edinburgh Award - Gold

about the progress the school is making.

We are incredibly proud of Sam Ralph, who achieved his Gold Duke of Edinburgh award earlier this term. This achievement brings with it an invitation to visit Buckingham Palace to collect the award itself. Congratulations to Sam from all at Caludon Castle!

There were 86 responses from parents to the Ofsted online questionnaire, which contributed to the inspection team’s findings about the school.

Mr Handy, Post-16 Leader

Ofsted As you will be aware, Ofsted visited Caludon Castle School in the early stages of the Spring term. They readily agreed that we had maintained our ‘Good’ quality of learning and teaching, and gave very positive feedback

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We were particularly proud that Ofsted understood what is at the heart of our school - the care and support we offer to all students.

The letter from Ofsted was sent to all parents of students at the school, but it is worth repeating some phrases here. Ofsted found that we “have created a culture in which staff and pupils feel confident and valued.”

The students “are highly appreciative that staff are consistently prepared to do ‘whatever it takes’ to support their learning. ... School leaders have successfully prioritised the welfare and personal development of pupils. This is a real strength of the school.

Staff, pupils and governors have worked well together to ensure that your motto, ‘repect to all, from all’, is a part of everything that goes on in school. Pupils are proud of their school.’’

Quite rightly, we as a staff team are also very proud of our students.

Ms Hutchinson, Assistant Headteacher On these pages you can see just a handful of the ways in which staff and students do whatever it takes to support their learning.

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Student Headteacher’s Tea Party The opportunity to attend a Head’s Tea Party occurs only three times a year and, in order to be invited, students must receive a number of nominations from a variety of teachers. Well done to those who enjoyed the culinary spread laid on by Mrs Ruddy’s talented team.

Ria Banwait Sasha Gudge Y8 Alfie Gayton Henry Rouse Kacey Macauley Lilly Williams Lucie Shaw Lucy Picknell Luke Redpath Rhiannon Harris-Jenkins Roman Mondair Will Stapleton Y9 Abbey Widdowson Ebony Callendar Elana Ha Elyza Mathew Esme Bennett Gabrielle Parkhill Ira Tonogbanua Jiya Lad Rhys Brigg Sonia Naorozy

Mr Morgan, Deputy Headteacher The following KS3 students were invited to the Headteacher’s Tea Party on Monday 1st April.

Y7 Can Efe Chloe Mistry David Boahene-Dafour Fletcher Shepherd Jack Buswell Jasmine James Jefferson Jones Minnie Smith

Mrs Turner, Headteacher’s PA

Maths Challenge Over a hundred Y9, 10 and 11 students took part in the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge at the start of February.

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There was a lot of stiff competition, with so many great minds all in one space.

Congratulations to all who took part, and we hope many will do so again next year.

Mr Riding, Mathematics

Successes Mouthwatering Y9 Food Technology students did a great job of preparing the water-themed food for the KS3 Headteacher’s tea party. It looked amazing. Y7, Y8 and Y9 students said it was ‘the best food yet!’

Well done year 9!

Mrs Ruddy, Faculty Leader for Technology

The Scholars Programme Our third cohort of students has now successfully graduated from the Scholars Programme, run by the Brilliant Club.

All students in Y9 and Y10 are invited to apply, but only six from each group can be chosen to take part in the programme.

PhD student from a Russell Group university, to take part in post-graduate research.

The programme begins with a visit to a major university, and ends with a graduation ceremony at a second major university. In between are six sessions with the PhD student, and a major dissertation from each programme member.

The dissertation is marked using the degree grading system of 3rd, 2.2, 2.1 and 1st, and our KS3 and KS4 students have to be working at A level standard in order to achieve these grades.

All of this year’s cohort graduated successfully. Well done to each one of them!

Mrs Marshall and Ms Thorley, English

Students have to write an essay and a letter of application in order to be chosen, This year’s successful applicants were: Zehra Kapar Yuxuan Lin Thomas Male Caden Hadley Sophia Ha Madison Scrimshaw Joe Griffiths Jake Smedley Gabrielle Parkhill Eraje Bamyani Aaron Anderson MacDonald Ayomide Akinsinmide Having beaten off their rivals they are then able to work with a

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Visitors and Speakers for Schools Successful illustrator Sarah Coleman came to Caludon Castle in March to speak to our A level Art students. We were also able to invite our most committed Y10 GCSE artists to attend her talk.

Ms Coleman shared slides of her work, including both sketches and finished illsutrations, from a variety of professional commissions.

She has created designs for a wide range of book covers, advertising campaigns and posters. The students were fascinated both by the breadth of her work, and by the process of turning ideas into finished designs.

Answering questions at the end, Ms Coleman shared her tips for turning artistic skill into a successful career, and even took the time at the end to talk one-to-one with students about their own moves into professional art and photography.

The talk had been organised through the charity ‘Speakers For Schools’ and was the latest in a series of very inspiring talks from this organisation.

Ms Hutchinson, Assistant Headteacher

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Events in brief

Y12 Music students took part in a trip to Liverpool in April with Mr Stokes. They visited the Beatles Story and the British Music Experience.

There was a STEM trip to the Go4Set Launch at Coventry University at the end of March with Ms Reddington.

Tomorrow’s Engineers led an event for our students in late March, with Dr Miller.

Y13 Psychology and Geography students attended revision conferences with Ms Chowdhury and Ms Crickmore.

Students attended a Grade Booster A Level Sociology day, with Mrs Roberts.

All of Y11 were able to watch a live Macbeth performance at the end of March.

Sport & Leisure took a coachful of students to Wembley to watch England play against the Czech Republic.

In March, the History department took 59 students to Belgium and the Somme to visit the First World War trenches.

British Science Week in March had the theme of ‘Scientific Journeys’. All students heard in assemblies and lessons about some of the fascinating intellectual and physical journeys scientists had undertaken in the past hundred years.

Our thanks to all the staff who make these events possible.

There is a large team involved in even the smallest event, to ensure students’ safety and wellbeing, as well as keeping everything to as low a cost as possible. We believe that the benefits to the students are more than worth the time and effort this takes.

Events HE+ Visits to Cambridge On March 11th and 12th our Y12 HE+ students spent the day at Clare College, part of Cambridge University.

Famous alumni from Clare College include Sir David Attenborough and Georgie Henley from the Narnia films, as well as a whole host of eminent historians.

Our group of students were divided in to the ‘Arts’ and the ‘Sciences’ and took part in student panel question and answer sessions.

They received advice on university applications from Clare College admissions

tutors, had a tour of the college and had the opportunity to dicuss their HE+ projects. Lunch was served in the college undercroft, a fabulous domed, stone-walled cavelike room, where students enjoy the bar and bands.

Our next event is June 21st, when our students will present their chosen projects to the rest of the city’s schools at President Kennedy School Ms Slack, MFL

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Events and

Caludon art exhibition Y10 final Art outcomes for their project ‘mechanical vs organic’ are currently on exhibition in Coventry City library. Along with this we have on exhibition a variety of Y10 and Y9 sculptures.

Pop down and have a look at the amazing work the students of Caludon Castle have produced this year, I’m sure you will be just as impressed as the Art department has been.

Mr Owen, Subject Leader for Art

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Performances Music Performances Once again, our students have done us proud. This term has seen several public Music, Dance and Drama performances. Many of these are obviously related to the qualifications the students are undertaking. With Drama monologues, devised and scripted performances, and the need for Music students to not only perform, but also show how they can organise a music event, this is a busy term.

Year 10 BTEC gig It is vital that all Music students have the chance to perform in public, but it is a nerve-wracking time for all involved. Their friends and families are always very supportive, but this does not take away from the pressure students feel leading up to the event.

Performing in a school lunch time slot in March, they rocked the hall and made sure that everyone had a really good time.

These are both enjoyable and inspirational in so many ways, and show students what could be possible.

Ms Vincent, Subject Leader for Music

Year 10 students visited London to see a performance of Woman In Black in January this year.

Visits to performances As well as having the opportunity to perform themselves, we believe it is vital for students to see professional performances.

Year 7 students visited Birmingham Symphony Hall in January to hear a performance of classical orchestral music.

Ms McDougall, Faculty Leader, Expressive Arts

Year 10 BTEC Music students put on an evening’s entertainment in March, after long hours of rehearsal. As always, the students were fabulous on the night, and the audience responded warmly to everything they did.

Ms Vincent, Subject Leader for Music

Year 12 Live Lounge It’s been a while since we’ve held a Live Lounge event in school, but this year’s Y12 students ensured this was the right moment to go back to this popular format.

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Y10 Dance Showcase A committed group of Y10 students are studying for GCSE Dance after school each week. They put on a stunning performance of their choreography in early April.

Thanks go to all the dancers who performed in these pieces.

It was a very successful evening.

Ms Lester, Performing Arts

Year 13 Music students The 11th March was quite the morning for one of the Y13

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Events and

Music students’ charity singles, ‘The Flame’ by Embers. JD and Roisin, from the Free Radio breakfast show, sat in on the music video premiere and fully gave their support to the project, 80K Facebook followers and 30K Twitter followers were given direct access to the video. The students were interviewd for a live show and a news report, broadcast to the Free Radio syndicate.

Mr Stokes, Assistant Headteacher

Performances Year 13 music students launch charity singles The first of this year’s charity singles was launched at the Sphinx Club on Friday 5th April.

Perfect Storm have written and recorded a charity single, called ‘Keeping Hope Alive’, in aid of the Children’s Air Ambulance. The group of six students are in Year 13 and the charity single is their final project for the BTEC level 3 in Music. The students have been responsible for creating the track, promoting it and selling it.

The track has been available to download from iTunes, Apple Music and all other major platforms since April 5th. To mark the event, Perfect Storm also made their first live appearance at the Sphinx Club in Coventry to perform their debut of ‘Keeping Hope Alive’ on April 5th at 7:30pm. They performed an hour-long set of cover songs, along with their charity single, after their two amazing support acts: Andy Beglin and Kellimarie.

“This is the 11th charity single the school’s Year 13 Music students have created and these students are well on track to beat the target I set them of raising £1000.”

The music video for ‘Keeping Hope Alive’ can be found at https://youtu.be/iNMFWz15_Js It is available to download from all major platforms.

Niamh Mailer, Y13 Music student

The Children’s Air Ambulance are a national charity who rely on public donations in order to fly critically ill children around the country.

Currently, they only have two air ambulances which enable them to transfer children to hospital four times faster than by car.

Perfect Storm wanted to help raise both awareness and money for this charity, so they will be donating all of the proceeds from ticket and CD sales directly to the Children’s Air Ambulance. Assistant Headteacher and course tutor Mr Stokes said,

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Other Ev Year 8 Culture Fair Students in Y8 spent 3 weeks researching and producing a culture fair stand on a country of their choice. We even had students in costume and making their own food. The level of work produced was fantastic and students conducted themselves with complete professionalism throughout their culture fair project.

Ms Crickmore, Geography

The Scholars Programme Graduation trip On Tuesday 12th February a group of students from Y9 and Y10 travelled to Wadham College in Oxford University to celebrate their achievements in The Scholars Programme.

The national scheme, which is organised by The Brilliant Club, is structured to imitate the learning that students experience at highly selective universities through the use of

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weekly essays which progress into a final essay which is graded at university level.

Throughout the course, participants work closely with a PhD student and tutor in a university near them on a unique title to increase academic development and attainment indelibly.

Personally, I loved the initiative (as stressful as it was) because it has helped me to realise that I can attend a highly-selective

university such as Oxford if I work diligently enough; as well as understanding what their environment is like, as previously I believed that it was mainly disdainful, supercilious, affluent children that attended Oxford.

However, I now know that is a myth. All of us are extremely grateful for being able to be part of the programme and we would all definitely recommend it to younger students!

Ayomide Akinsinmide, Y10 student

vents Elevate Workshops The education company Elevate have visited Caludon Castle School on a number of occasions this term, to work with a variety of year groups.

Elevate workshop leaders are young, enthusiastic and very knowledgeable about the best techniques for learning and revising. They have worked with students from Y9 to Y13, at an appropriate level for each year group, sharing with them how to make notes, how to plan effective essays, how to listen and learn, how to be active in their own learning, and how to revise effectively for exams.

Many students are initially sceptical about these sessions, believing they already know everything about learning, but almost all come out saying how useful they have been.

Ms Roberts, Leader post-16

Round Midnight Theatre Group Round Midnight gave a performance to all of Y9 and then ran a series of workshops for selected Y9 students about making choices and taking opportunities.

These events took place on the same day as the Y9 Options Evening, setting students up to approach the event with an open and enquiring mind, and to make the best decisions for their future.

Ms Hutchinson, Assistant Headteacher

Playhouse Theatre Playhouse Theatre, a drama company based in the West Midlands, came into Caludon Castle School to perform a series of 4 workshops around the theme of prevention of radicalisation. Over 140 Y9 students attended these workshops.

The actors took on several roles each in a play based on events during a riot in Birmingham. The potential roots of extremism were explored. The action was stopped at various points to allow the audience to comment on what was happening, and to consider how the characters should act next. There were some very thoughtful comments from the Y9 students, and a simple show of hands at the start and end of the performances showed that they had taken on board some of the messages of the play.

Ms Hutchinson, Assistant Headteacher

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Maths Events Maths and Beyond On 27th March, 15 students attended a Maths and Beyond conference at the University of Warwick. The day focussed on applications of maths in a variety of fields, including synthetic biology, puzzle solving, magic and the uses and misuses of statistics. Students found this to be a hugely rewarding and engaging experience, as it allowed them to see ways in which maths is used in fields that they had not considered.

STEM Day

Maths Feast

On 22nd March, the Smallpiece Trust came to deliver a STEM day to Y10 students. Students were given a variety of tasks throughout the day, starting with the challenge of building as tall a tower as possible to support a metal weight, using only paper. A variety of strategies were used, with the winning group managing to erect a structure almost a metre tall!

On 13th March, 8 Y10 students took part in the ‘Maths Feast’ event at Myton School, competing against teams from all around Coventry and Warwickshire. This involved teams of 4 competing against each other in a variety of mathematical scenarios, requiring students to problem solve, work collaboratively and learn and answer questions on new topics. The students from Caludon competed brilliantly, narrowly missing out on a top 3 finish. Congratulations to them!

The main task of the day was to build and design a working speaker, along with making an advert and delivering a pitch to potential investors. Students were given limited resources, but could choose to purchase additional items using their company funds, whilst thinking about the effect this would have on the final cost of the product. All groups were able to successfully do this and came up with an array of unique and brilliant designs.

The winning group went with a ‘Monsters Inc’ themed speaker, which, as well as looking amazing, generated a loud and clear sound.

A fantastic team effort.

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Mr Riding, Mathematics

Charity events Red Nose Day Students paid £1 to wear nonschool uniform for the day, and together raised nearly £1500 for Comic Relief. Vismaya Jose, head of the post-16 charity committee, led the team of students collecting from each tutor group, putting on a cake sale and wearing fancy dress.

Charity Singles Sixth form Music students have written, recorded and released songs for two charities this year, the Children’s Air Ambulance and Free Radio Cash for Kids.

Both singles are on Spotify, iTunes and all major download platforms. Please support and follow the bands - Ember and Perfect Storm - on social media and watch their videos!

Concerts for Charity Over 300 people attended two concerts at the Coventry Sphinx Sports Club and the Twisted Barrel Brewery and Tap house.

These wonderful events have raised nearly two thousand pounds for the respective charities! Well done Music department and students!

Mr Stokes, Assistant Headteacher

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Food Technology Hospitality A fantastic level of presentation was seen in a recent food styling lesson by Y10 Hospitality and Catering students. The students then sat down and enjoyed their restaurant standard food!

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News Tunnock Teacake Challenge Y9 Food Technology students were given the challenge of styling a Tunnocks teacake in the most creative way. The results were amazing, difficult to choose but the winner is....

Olivia Reid! Well done to Olivia and to all.

Mrs Ruddy, Subject Leader for Food Technology

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Trips and Visits Paris Y12 and Y13 Media Studies and Photography students travelled to Paris at the start of April to visit the ECU European Independent Film Festival. With adults and students combined, the group was 26-strong, the largest we have taken to the festival.

Travelling out on Friday 5th April, and back on Monday 8th, the party had time for sightseeing on these days, taking in Sacre-Coeur and Montmartre, the Tuilieries and the Louvre on the Friday, and the Pompidou Centre and a shopping trip on the Monday.

There were further excursions on Saturday and Sunday evenings, to the top of the Tour Montparnasse, and to Notre Dame cathedral. Students certainly got to move around Paris!

Saturday and Sunday daytime saw us at the film festival, watching 21 films, from music videos and short films to full-length feature films, from around the world. Countries of origin included Lebanon, Italy, Mexico, Australia, Chile, Hungary, Greece, Germany, South Africa, USA, France, Romania and the UK. Dipping into these cultures was a privilege and an eyeopening experience.

On the first day, the short film ‘The Scorpion’s Tale’ stood out as the group’s favourite, but this was completely over-shadowed on the second day by the world premiere of the excellent Italian film, ‘Rwanda’.

With the Rwandan massacres having taken place 25 years ago, some students were unaware of these events. The film was chiilling, gripping,

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and ultimately inspiring in equal measure. Even better, the event was attended by the film’s director, costume designer, and the two lead actors. They explained how the film had come about, how an Italian village had been transformed into a corner of Rwanda, and how the Red Cross had helped to supply 450 Rwandan extras for some of the scenes.

This trip was a truly memorable experience, and many students have vowed to return to Paris in the future.

Ms Hutchinson, Assistant Headteacher

Music trip 27 students travelled to Warwick Arts Centre in March to hear the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra perform.

Art: London Galleries

This was a privilege for all who went.

Mrs Vincent, Subject Leader for Music

Y12 and Y13 Art students visited London in early March to experience the amazing collections in the galleries there.

Mr Owen, Subject Leader for Art

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Other News Wembley

The Youth Speaks On 1st February Daniel Harrison, Millie Smedley and Ayomide Akinsinmide visited Sidney Stringer Academy, along with Miss Thorley, to partake in the annual Youth Speaks competition to present their speech on “The Power of Representation”.

The Youth Speaks is a national competition divided into progressive stages. It aims to give young people the opportunity to develop their public speaking abilities on a public platform, conduct research, contrive their ideas and opinions, and improve their self-confidence, presentation and teamwork skills.

Unfortunately, we could not progress further in the competition. However, it helped us to develop our critical thinking and stage presence to an even higher level. There’s always next year!

Ayomide Akinsinmide, Y10 student

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Caludon Sports and Leisure students had a great trip to Wembley on Friday 22 March to watch England v Czech Republic.

80 students enjoyed a thrilling 5-0 win to England, with Raheem Sterling scoring a hattrick! For some of the students it was their first time visiting Wembley, and for others, their

first visit to a stadium to watch a sporting event.

One photo shows the students poised with their phones ready to capture Harry Kane score a penalty for the second goal!

Thank you to all the staff who gave up their time to support the event too.

Mrs Oldham, Faculty Leader for Sport and Leisure

Keeping children safe and healthy Following our introduction in the last Caludon Update, the safeguarding team continue to find information that we hope you will find helpful. In this issue we bring you advice about a number of different online activities, to help you to keep your children safe over the summer.

Mrs Waring, Deputy Headteacher

Protecting young people from online grooming This article

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Keeping children saf

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fe and healthy

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Y7 Trips and Events Waterstones Y7 students enjoyed a great visit to Waterstones where they were given a tour, chose a book to spend their voucher on and then sat down to enjoy their new purchase with a hot chocolate. This is what they thought ...

Benjamin Barrett: The best part of today was getting a Percy Jackson book, and we had cake and hot chocolate. It was fun!

Shelby Bonsor-Smith: The best bit about today was getting my new book, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I also got a journal called ‘Wreck this Book’, which is good because I can draw and write in it.

Hollie Mortiboys: The experience was good because the manager gave us a tour and helped us find the information to Mrs Ruddy’s competition. Also we got a hot chocolate in the café!

Mrs Ruddy, Assistant Leader of Literacy

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Cadbury World 7.6 had the great fortune to visit Cadbury World in early April.

Such a visit is always a treat

for those involved, with the opportunity to see how chocolate is made, but also to sample the output from the factory at the end of the tour.

The students thoroughly enjoyed themselves as you can see in the photographs on this page.

Mrs Harris, Inclusion Faculty

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Student Leaders SSAT Director On the 3rd April, a group of Caludon Castle student leaders spoke to Julian Elve, the director of the SSAT (the Schools, Students and Teachers Network), about their roles in the school.

The students having this honour and responsibility were all experienced student leaders who have developed their skills in presenting to adults in formal situations over the last two or three years.

Millie Smedley Theo Smith Lucy Mae Jones Daniel Harrison Eva Morgan Rhys Stapleton Jake Smedley Ayomide Akinsismide They did the school and themselves proud, showing that they know their role and their value to the school inside and out.

Mrs Mitchell, Assistant Headteacher Six of the student leaders attended an SSAT aspirations visit to London in March.

Millie Smedley Jake Smedley Ayomide Akinsinmide Daneesan Sivanathan Daniel Harrison Lucy-Mae Jones were lucky enough to be chosen to take part.

Mr Moffat, Sport & Leisure

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Year 7 student leaders Y7 student leaders continued with their training this term, with the following students taking part: 7.1 Anabelle George, Sophie Gray 7.2 Sasha Gudge, Darren Younge 7.3 Aissatou Bambila, Rose Kandala, Charm Mogol 7.4 Narthan Bermudez, Marlie Blackstock, Kris Patel, Lacie Finnie, Chris Smith 7.5 Darcie Bridges, Madeline Small, Ria Banwait, Leanna Layfield-Thompson, Caitlin Wedgbury, Ella Brown 7.6 Keira Kandiara, Ria Gidda 7.7 Erin Pearce, Amelia Sutherland 7.8 David Darfour-Boahene 7.9 Madison Lawrence, Lauren Smith As our older student leaders move on to more intensive GCSE study, we will be looking to the younger student leaders to take on more repsonsibility, and are very pleased with how the Y7 students are responding to this need.

Mr Moffat, Sport & Leisure

World Book Day There were a whole host of activities across the school, and across all subjects, to celebrate World Book Day. All students had the opportunity to have a book token to spend.

Some students were later taken to Waterstones, where they were able to spend their token and purchase a book of their choice.

English and library staff welcomed author, Seth Burkett, who spoke to an invited audience of Y7 and Y9 students about his writing and football career to date.

At 11.50am, we had a DEAR session - Drop Everything And Read - which saw both staff and students enjoying books wherever they were at the time.

Staff dressed as their favourite book characters, or wore T-shirts hand-decorated to reflect their favourite book. Many staff threw themselves into this wholeheartedly, with Ms Tripass winning a prize for having the best costume (as Mary Poppins), and Mr Owen winning a prize for most embracing his character (Dracula).

Our Languages students were challenged to create a mini-book in the language they are studying.

English students debated the value of books and reading, Art students designed gift cards to enter the official World Book Day competition, while in Geography, students went ‘Around the world in 80 Days’.

Prior to the day itself, staff had given their suggestions for their favourite books, and why these could appeal to others. These ideas were made into laminated signs for classroom and office doors, so that everyone could choose from a wealth of good reading ideas.

Mrs Marshall, Leader of Literacy

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Year 7 and Year 7 Basketball Another great turnout from Y7 for the inter-tutor basketball tournament that took place in April. Well done to everyone who participated. 7.3 and 7.5 came top of their leagues and went through to the final. It was a well contested final,

but 7.3 edged it and took the victory. Well done to 7.3.

7.2 and 7.8 finished in joint third position. Thank you to the Year 8 boys who gave up their time to officiate the games as well.

Mrs Oldham, Sport & Leisure

Year 7 Benchball tournament The almost-infamous annual Y7 benchball tournament took place at the end of this term.

While the tutor groups may be shooting it out to see who has the greatest skill, everyone knows that the staff team is the one to watch. Not always playing by the rules, and definitely not dressed in school kit, the Y7 tutors and allies are ruthless in their determination.

The event began with the superb singing of the national anthem, and ended in a lot of fun and laughter. Thank you to everyone who threw themselves into this with spirit and enthusiasm.

We now look forward to more competition to come next term.

Mr Holland, Leader Y7

Pancake race The MFL Pancake Race is becomiing a staple of the school year.

Thanks to all those who helped to organise and run the event.

7.6 were the justified winners.

Congratulations to them!

Languages Squad 2 March saw the return of the Languages Squad, but this time with a group of Y8 Spanish students who put their linguistic knowledge to good use.

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MFL events They had to decode a Spanish recipe so that they could follow instructions to make the best and most elegant tapas they could.

In groups, with exactly the same ingredients, the Languages Squad set off to make traditional tapas in the most creative way.

Students were adventurous with their designs and their flavours, and we saw an array of designs and concoctions.

After the Bake Off style stress, the tapas were judged on their elegance and uniqueness. The winner was a tapa with a rose shaped piece of chorizo!

The Languages Squad then had the enviable task of eating their tapas and trying new Spanish foods (some of which went down better than others!) It was a great success and fantastic way for students to learn Spanish and its culture outside of the classroom.

We look forward to the next Languages Squad event soon. ยกBien hecho a todos los participantes!

Mr. Ricketts, MFL

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Sports News Y7 & 8 Netball Since September 2018, netball practice after school has had a fantastic uptake. The girls have been extremely committed and dedicated to representing Caludon Castle and improving their netball skills.

This year we have had both a Y7 and a Y8 netball team and celebrated a lot of successful wins against schools played locally. The girls in the teams have played both home and away games against Foxford, Westwood Academy, Ernesford, Grace Academy and Stoke Park. The majority of our games finished with a win, but even when there was the odd loss, the girls continued to show lots of resilience and were even more motivated to do well.

There have been a lot of position changes during the season and trying out different tactics, but during all of this the girls never moaned; we were all working towards the same outcome which was to win our games and play the best we can as a team. Towards the end of the season the girls’ confidence had grown so much.

They organised their own team talks, they listened to my advice and we really shone in our final match of the season against Stoke Park.

In addition to being given an opportunity to play matches against other schools, the girls attended a Wasps Community Netball day at the Ricoh in November. This day gave the

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girls another opportunity to develop their netball skills, meet some of the Wasps players and have fun. All of them had an amazing afternoon and got involved in all activities.

A trip to the Ricoh was also organised to watch the Wasps Netball team play against Manchester Thunders. The girls were asked to be mascots for the Wasps players and this was a fantastic experience for them.

As we went to support the Wasps in the Superleague, we were given a coaching session at school by Samantha May, who is the Goal Defence for the Wasps team. She ran an excellent training session with the girls and everyone had a fantastic

time, learning more skills and listening to her advice.

I am very proud of the journey that all the girls have been on. I cannot wait for the season to start again and show continued success in the Coventry School Netball League that we will be entering.

Mrs Harborne, Sport & Leisure Please check the school website news section for updates on other sporting teams and events throughout the year.

Congratulations to all the teams who have had successes this term.