wan w a n S The he T
The Magazine of Christleton High School
Pathway visits Enrichment Week
Year 8 Normandy visit
All Weather Pitch
Carry on Camping
Owl family tree
Headteacher’s 2
The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
Report
As we moved into the new timetable and Enrichment Week we were blessed with a week of fabulous weather. This enabled one of the most successful school camps ever, and enhanced a really good week of enrichment which included Pathways visits, fun days, gifted and talented workshops, study visits (both home and abroad), revision workshops and many other events. On 10th June we began our new timetable and at this point we made several changes to internal arrangements for registration and lunchtime. These were designed in consultation with students and launched through a number of assemblies prior to Whitsun. I have summarised them below for your information.
1. We have adjusted the lunchtime to improve the quality of food and reduce queuing, particularly for Years 7 and 8, by creating a split lunchtime. This has the added advantage of providing double form tutor slots for intervention, mentoring and assemblies. It will also provide opportunity for greater sporting, musical activity and extra-curricular clubs at lunchtime. All students and staff have a common core lunch of 30 minutes.
2. On arrival in the morning students now go straight to lesson 1 where they are given any important notices for the day and lessons begin immediately. Students and staff alike told us that little useful business was achieved with the previous registration system, which for some students involved moving across the school and back again in 5 minutes, simply to be registered.
3. We have adjusted the composition of forms, particularly in the Upper School and Sixth Form, to separate the function of
administration, routine tasks, notices etc, from the opportunity to mentor, work with students, listen carefully where there are complex problems and design good solutions. Whilst we have made every effort to anticipate opportunities and problems, I am sure we will need to take feedback and adjust as we go along and we will seek to do this from students and yourselves in the Autumn term.
4. We have set up a pilot scheme for a Lesson 6 to begin in September, and I am currently consulting with Sixth Form on how this will work. The purpose of Lesson 6 is to try and get more effective use of the school facilities and synchronise lessons, particularly for the older adolescents with their biorhythms (if you have an older teenager I suspect you will agree that they are not at their most alert and energetic early in the morning!). Governors wished me to run a pilot for 12 months with this, and then to seek comprehensive feedback from students, parents and teachers. Lesson 6 will be compensated by a later start in the morning, and will only operate on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. The pilot will only affect Year 13 students.
5. This year a group of staff and students have led the introduction of a new learning programme. Research by cognitive scientists indicates that students can improve their learning by focusing on four R’s – Resilience, Resourcefulness, Reflectiveness and Reciprocity. Thirteen staff have undergone extensive training in BLP (Building Learning Power) and are leading its introduction across the school. Lessons and schemes of learning are planned to develop these habits and students are shaped into increasingly independent learners. During the
coming year Wednesday afternoons will be used to provide training to ensure all students experience BLP in their lessons. Please help us by noticing the 4 r’s in your son or daughters habits and acknowledging their growth.
6. We have completely revised the Lesson Monitor system which was identifying exceptional achievement and enabling us to challenge under-performance and poor behaviour, but within the old system students told us it was possible to hide mediocre performance and that it did not discriminate sufficiently. Students worked with the Care & Achievement Team and we have designed and launched for the new timetable a completely different 5 point system, which I hope will further drive up standards of achievement, motivation and behaviour. It should also be much fairer.
Goodbye! Mrs Evans (Head of Year 11) leaves us after 38 years’ service to the school and its students. We send our very best wishes to her for a long, happy and welldeserved retirement.
Mrs Platel and Mrs Russell retired from English and Biology respectively at Whitsun, with our thanks and appreciation for many years of service. We send our best wishes with them. We wish Miss Loxam (Food Technology) well, she has relocated to Lincolnshire to be closer to family.
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Congratulations to...
Mrs Pettener (Biology) who gained promotion to Head of Science at Bebington Sports College and left at Whitsun. Mr Britton (D&T), who leaves us for Hawarden High School, where he will be Assistant Curriculum Manager of the Technical and Vocational Faculty.
Mrs Hamer (Maths) who joins Bishop Heber High School in September as Head of KS4 Maths.
We send them our thanks and best wishes.
All their replacements have been appointed and we will introduce them to you in the Autumn SWAN. In Modern Foreign Languages we have made some exciting changes in response to the big increase in uptake by our students. The staffing has changed fundamentally with teachers who are native speakers of both French and Spanish joining the established Languages team. By September we will have re-modelled the whole area to create a much more dynamic and flexible learning environment, with a truly “foreign” feel! I hope your sons and daughters will report back on this to you.
Art
Cookery
Eco-School Geography
English
Hot Scholars
Pathway
Science
DT
History
Maths
Performance Sport
The all-weather pitch is now complete and we are phasing its introduction to ensure that it is both properly maintained and cared for, and to maximise opportunity for our students to play competitive sport and develop their talents. We will put the pitch into use immediately for our students in their PE lessons where, appropriate but initially this will be on a relatively small scale as we have a number of year groups missing due to examinations, and of course we are following a summer sports programme. As soon as students are briefed to use the pitch safely and effectively during breaks and lunchtime they will be given access. Although the usage will be free, students will be expected to set and maintain very high standards. The bulk of evening lettings will not commence immediately, but from September we have a full programme during the weekday evenings which, I am pleased to say, involves almost all our local children’s football teams
predominantly from Christleton, Waverton and Vicars Cross. These bookings are long-term and will enable us to further support young people in our community. Weekend bookings are yet to be finalised.
The budget for the coming year is now set and there are theoretically no cuts being applied by Government, which we must welcome. The real terms budget however is significantly reduced as a result of a national pay rise of 1%, inflation, energy costs and a number of other factors amounting to £200,000+ including cuts resulting from formula change in special needs and sixth form funding. The coming year is going to be tight but thanks to the freedoms of academy funding we will not be be making any cuts to staffing or services and I will continue to seek new and additional funds.
The last day of term, Friday 19th July, will be a charity fun day run by the Sixth Form, with students leaving school at 12.30pm. My thanks go as ever to you for your super children and the support and feedback which help us serve them. I hope you have a wonderful summer holiday with family time together, and maybe even some fine British weather!
Tony Lamberton Headteacher
REMEMBER THIS?
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
Summer Term 2013
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THIS IS IT!!
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
A Moment to Reflect on Heroes of the Past
Year 9 visit to the Battlefields Arriving at school at 6am on a sunny June day, 25 sleepy Year 9 students (Izzy and Holly looked lovely in their onesies!) and 3 staff started the journey to Dover where we boarded a ferry for Calais before getting back on the coach and travelling to our hostel in Belgium. We received our usual warm welcome at the hostel in Ypres which was followed by the usual confusion when students were told they had to make their own beds but everyone soon cheered up after a three course meal and some free time in the hostel grounds. The first evening was rounded off by a visit to a local cemetery – which we found eventually, despite initially going the wrong way – and time in the hostel bar where students could buy soft drinks and enjoy use of the games room.
On our second day we travelled back into France to visit the Somme, starting with the memorial at Thiepval and then a visit to Ulster Tower trench museum where students saw actual trenches and learned about the role of the Ulster Division in WW1. We then continued to Newfoundland Memorial and then Vimy Ridge where students experienced the claustrophobia but safety of the Canadian tunnels, dug 8 feet underground in order to avoid the German attacks; special praise goes to Olivia Wood who managed all of this whilst on crutches. We then visited another cemetery on the way back to the hostel and paid our respects to Kristie Horrocks’ great granddad who lost his life in WW1. The day was followed
by a relaxing evening in the hostel games room and grounds playing table tennis and table football and consuming huge quantities of Pepsi.
Day three started slightly later and after a short journey we arrived at Essex Farm Cemetery where John McCrae was stationed followed by Hill 62 and Crater and Tyne Cott Memorial. We had lunch at the Hooge Crater Museum where students had the opportunity to buy replica bullets and grenades and other souvenirs to bring home with them. After lunch, our visit to the German Cemetery at Langemark was a huge contrast to our previous visits, where students could see firsthand the differences between the graveyards run by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and others. At Talbot House in Poperinge students learned how the soldiers lived when they weren’t on the frontline and marvelled at the wonders of early 20th century entertainment. This was followed by a trip to the chocolate shop and an early tea back at the hostel before returning to the centre of Ypres for the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate.
After a visit to the Flanders Fields Museum at the beginning of day four we headed back to Calais and arrived back in Chester that evening. I would like to thank all the Year 9’s for making this such a brilliant trip, their behaviour was exceptional and the respect and sensitivity they showed amazing. Mrs Holme
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Geography Rocks,
li ter al ly!
The Year 10 Geography and Environmental Science Groups took part in a field trip to North Wales in March this year staying at the Conway Centre and studying amongst other things, the effect that longshore drift has on beach sediment. The first day took us directly to Cwm Idwal, a corrie in the Glyderau range of mountains in northern Snowdonia. The view from the lip of the corrie showed us a perfect example of a glacial trough, the Nant Ffrancon (Valley of the beavers which died out some 600 years ago) fed by water from
Llyn Idwal. We marched up the mountain, to view the beautiful corrie sat before us. After a quick stop at the Conway Centre to drop off our kit, we continued on to Cemlyn Bay a Site of Special Scientific Interest in North Anglesey, world renowned for its shingle beach, its lagoon and above all its birdlife. The second day offered us a day trip to Beaumaris Beach, yet another shingle beach, once work had been done we were let out into the local town to enjoy some of Wales’s finest sights and food and a well-earned hot chocolate. The field trip finished with a long
drive home, which seemed to go on forever. After a good night’s sleep, I was revitalised and ready to complete my Controlled Assessment. Robyn Barrett 11L2
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
Spoon-Feed Me!
Hot Scholars are hungry to learn.
We are ready to learn and do things
We like to be independent!
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HOT SCHOLARS
We don’t want to be spoon-fed.
for ourselves!
Spoons are out! Independence is in!
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
It’s Drawing - after a fashion Fashion Drawing Workshop in Art
On 15th May, I went to an amazing and successful fashion design workshop with students from Year 8 to Year 10. The workshop took place because I mentioned my hopes to become a fashion designer at my parents’ evening appointment.
We were all enthusiastic about fashion drawing, designing and using our own creativity in our drawings. Everyone created their own fashion drawing using professional techniques that are used by fashion designers. Now we understand these techniques, they will definitely help those of us who show a passion for fashion design in the future. We had to add our own unique style to our drawings. Once we had finished designing, we then added a range of different inks using techniques which made our drawings bolder and more vibrant. The workshop was so successful that most students who took part returned to their drawings, either in lessons or at breaks and lunches. Everyone who
Summer Term 2013
took part thoroughly enjoyed the experience and loved learning about fashion drawing. We all hope that it is organised again in the future. It will definitely be as successful! Caitlin Small 8BY1
A group of Year 10 and Year 8 students got the chance to go to an art workshop on 15th May 2013 in which we could do fashion drawings like those that are used within the fashion industry by fashion designers. We used the conventions fashion designers use to draw the women: they were very skinny with unusually long legs and arms. We talked about how these are not healthy bodily proportions but how, in the form of drawings, thin models show clothing designs off well. We added facial features and our clothing designs and then finally inked them which finished them off really well. This has been one of our favourite workshops because we are really interested in fashion and it was great finding out how fashion designers start their drawings. Our favourite aspect of the workshop was the fact that it was something that we would not usually do in our Art lessons but which helped give us different ideas for other pieces of art that we are doing in class. We also really liked the look of the drawings and also how quickly they developed in the short time we had. We would love to do something like this again in the future.
By Leah Powell-Williams and Matilda Watts – 10L1 and 10L3
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“Evolution” Since January I have been involved with a great new Art team in Year 10 called the Evolution Group. This group has been put together by Miss Sykes to help students in their Art GCSE. There have been many opportunities made available to us being a part of this group and some of these are as follows; Master classes – we have all been given the experience of working alongside sixth form students so we can see the difference in atmosphere and work ethic in their lessons compared to ours; also the type of work that is done in sixth form lessons.
Buddying up – We have buddied up with a member of our Art teaching group who we think are an inspiration to us to try and encourage us and give us support in our Art lessons. Hot Mustard – This is a staff Art group that we were all given to opportunity to attend where we could work alongside members of staff
It’s the way forward! who like to do their own art. Enrichment – There were 2 Wednesday after school sessions with Miss Sykes spent on a mini project about small garden birds. This was really fun because I got to learn new techniques and broaden my portfolio further. I would do it all again If I had the chance! There are many other opportunities to come and I am looking forward to see what they are! The Evolution Group was put together to help students achieve to the best of their ability and hopefully to push us to get a higher grade in GCSE Art. It has pushed each of us in different ways, in my case I was not so good at a biro shading technique that we call star scribble but now I have improved loads. All the students that are a part of the Evolution Group said they are really enjoying it and they hope it continues. By Jonathan Starnes Year 10
Top Tips for Learning...
Members of staff and students
give their top advice for how to be a better learner…
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
Someone called it an owl…
hoooooooo was it?
HOT
SCHOLARS
Our Art Owl Workshop, involved many stages. The first stage was covering a wooden frame with cling film. We then covered it in muslin fabric that had been painted with PVA glue. We then dyed many strips of fabric, using inks and cut out different sized shapes to create the feathers. The fabric feathers were then glued onto the owl body and the finishing touches were made, such as adding the eyes, feet and beak. Some Art Hot Scholars did this workshop along with occasional help from Jenny Wilkinson, Maddy Thompson, Katie Flowers and Romey Davies. We enjoyed this workshop very much and the finished owl looks GREAT! Ellie Wilkins Art Hot Scholar “We had loads of fun making our owl and it turned out to be epic! The greatest thing was to see the results after a long period of time.” Happy Chowdhury …coming soon…look
out for baby owls…..
….twit-twit-too-
woooooooooooooooooo……..
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Learning... Learning... it’s all about Learning
The style of learning has certainly changed over the years... not only in the layout of classrooms...
Ever wondered what staff get up to on a Wednesday afternoon when students are involved in extra-curricular activities? Well, staff take part in quite a unique Professional Development programme…that has, as its core purpose, the continued improvement in the standards of Learning and Teaching.
We want our students to better learners... to take more responsibility for their own Learning... To be more independent... and this means that teachers have to change the classroom dynamic. In order to be more Independent learners, students need to be more resilient…more resourceful... to work better together... and to be more reflective.
The Professional Development programme is focussed on developing teaching strategies that will allow our students to fulfil this vision. It has had inputs from outside speakers, for example: looking at the impact of IT in learning…and some students may already have seen the impact on learning of resources such as Padlet walls. Elements of the programme are often led by our own staff who are expert practioners in various new learning and teaching developments. Some of these developments are illustrated on various pages throughout this edition of The Swan. Mr Jones was greatly helped in putting this article together by Charlotte Evans and Jessica Twigg in 8BA2 – two great Hot Scholars!
Top Tips for Learning...
‘Be organised and make sure you have the right things for the lesson’ Mrs Goodwin
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
WO W! This term Art students from KS3 and KS4 created pieces of art on the theme of
birds, which was
then exhibited on the Wow Wall. Art Hot Scholars Abi Stevenson, Greg James and Sophie Brown put up the exhibition, Sophie explains how it was created.
A very Wow Wall by Sophie Brown
As you may have seen, a recent Wow Wall was home to many birds made by different Art students. This was a big project involving Art Hot Scholars and students. Students made lots of different types of birds in different ways.
As well as the big phoenix, there were some small birds with words all over them on a white Gustav Klimt inspired tree. These were made in a Year 7 workshop run by the Year 8 Hot Scholars Sophie Brown and Ellie Kanwar and Year 10 Art Hot Scholars Abi Stevenson and Greg James. The birds are made of pages from a book, then coloured using ink and then dots of paint were used to decorate them. They were then put on a white curly tree cut and made by Courtney Chadwick, Happy Chowdhury and Ellie Wilkins It was made out of card and sticks out to make it three dimensional. Other hanging birds were made by Zac Hirst, Joseph Bowes and Harry Ford. These were made out of maps and cast amazing shadows onto
the wall. They were made using craft knives.
There were also 4 crochet owls made by Year 9 students. They were all in different colours and looked very cute especially when they were on the wall sitting together. These had taken a long time and they looked really good.
Also hanging from the ceiling were bird puppets, these were made by Hot Scholars and other students in an Art workshop. These birds are covered in feathers and decorated using a colour family. They have strings in them to move their wings to give the effect that they are flying! This display was full of art work from talented students across the school. The whole display was put up by Abi Stevenson, Greg James and Sophie Brown. Thank you to all the people that have helped to create this wonderful display. Sophie Brown Art Hot Scholar
“The Wow Wall display was great fun to make and it was awesome to see the result!� Courtney Chadwick 8L1
HOT
SC HOLARS
Summer Term 2013 Wow Wall Contributors Leaders : Ellie Kanwar Sophie Brown Abi Stevenson Greg James Bethan Hosker
Year 7 Elise Allison Hania Arthur Emily Black Freya Bowerman Charis Inchley Arthur Jessop Jessica Jones Anna Lambert Yannick Wojtan
Year 8 Joe Bowes Oliver Brunskill Courtney Chadwick Happy Chowdhury Emma Cresswall Holly Davies Romey Davies Kimberley Duffell Harry Ford Emily-Rose Forden Isobel Griffin-Morris Tommy Hughes Zack Hirst Ffion Jones Hannah Jones Sophie Runciman Madeline Thompson Ellie Wilkins Year 9 Izzy Bowman Emma Collins Jacob Davies Gaby Harper Becky Herbert Lucy Hosker Emma Ogunyemi Josie Proudlove Kiran Randhawa Naomi Simm Charlotte Timms Blythe Walker Year 10 Greg James Abi Stevenson Lydia Tanner
Year 11 Bethan Hosker
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
AWAY
Artistic Weekend
Some of our Art students were invited to attend an enrichment weekend at the Conway Centre, Anglesey.
They joined with students from across Cheshire and worked with artists to develop their GCSE portfolios. The students learnt new skills and used materials that they would not usually use in school. Here are their thoughts;
“It was amazing learning all the different techniques from the artists and learning how to improve my skills further” - Laura Beattie
“Working with new people, in a different environment really helped my ideas for my new art piece and I’m really glad that the art we created can go towards our GCSE because it is not something that we would usually get the chance to do.” - Matilda Watts “Going to the Conway Centre was a really good and interesting experience. I learned new techniques with familiar paint and pen, which I will improve and use in my future work.” - Becky Bower
“The Conway Art trip gave me chance to use a lot of different materials to work with that I wouldn’t be usually work with at school. I also learned different ways to create art work. This has helped with my GCSE because I now have more in my portfolio” - Abi Stevenson
“It was a really beneficial experience as it helped me learn different techniques and little tips that can push up my grade further. Also working with new people from different schools was interesting; we found out more about what work they do at school.” - Harriet Keogh “The art trip was very beneficial because I was able to use materials that schools don’t normally use. This meant that we learned new skills that we can then use later on in life.” - Greg James
“The Conway Art trip was a great experience as I learnt lots of new interesting techniques and I also learned about the way that an artist
worked and how it was different to the way we work in school. What we made goes towards our GCSE which is good as we can carry on our project and use all the techniques that we used to get a higher grade.” - Hannah Rain “Conway has given me a lot of new friends and helped me to experience a lot of new ways to create art work. The days involved learning new skills and the night consisted of fun with friends away from our work spaces (Greg’s tavern!). The work we have done will go towards our final grade for our GCSE; the work we are now doing is to continue a theme of maps. I had a great time full of laughs.” - Ellie Gill “During the Conway Art Trip I learnt a completely new skill called ‘casting’, this is something we hadn’t done in school. This experience was great because I was able to mix with others from other schools. It was also a benefit to me because this is an extra project which can improve my overall grade in GCSE ART!” - Tyler Roberts
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Smiling Like
a Cheshire
Cat
My name is Collette Chadwick and I am an English hot scholar. Recently, in a Hot Scholars’ prize draw, I won a prize to go to the Cheshire Cat – the prize was a meal for 2. When I went there with my Dad to claim my prize, they were very nice to us and they were kind enough to give my sister a free meal as well! This meant three of us ate for free. It was very pleasant and I would recommend it to anybody as a very nice place with a good menu.
Top Tips for Learning...
‘Be prepared and fully equipped and reflect on your learning’ Mr Sewell Davies
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
An Owl Family Tree
Anna Kew, Gaby Harper, Naomi Simm, Kiran Randhawa and I have learned how to make crochet owls. As Art Hot Scholars we had the opportunity to learn how to do this from Beth Hosker in Year 11. Beth was an Art Hot Scholar last year. First Beth learned how to do crochet and once she understood what she was doing, she then taught the five of us. The owls form a family tree with Beth’s as the parent owl. When we first started it was very tricky and we all found it hard to understand. However, once we got going, the owls were easy to make. We were all taught the same method but surprisingly, all of the owls in the family tree all turned out differently! Overall we enjoyed making the crochet owls and it is great to notice the achievement we have made. Becky Herbert Art Hot Scholar
HOT SC HOLARS
Lens Flair
‘‘I really enjoyed discovering more about photography. I’m definitely going to use the skills I’ve learnt in my future photography’’. – Greg James
This term saw students from Year 7 to 13 enjoy two photography workshops. The aim of the Art Department’s workshops was to develop our skills using digital SLR and compact cameras. We learned about the main components of the camera and also technical aspects such as shutter speed and apertures. The workshop was very practical and we were encouraged to use the techniques we had learnt about within our experiments in image making. Everybody came away from the workshop with a greater understanding of photography. By Kiera Berry
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
Waverton Writes Competition Winners
Wendy Smedley and Gwen Goodhew from the Good Read with Georgina Taylor, Thomas Adam and Meredydd Jones
Christleton High School celebrated the success of three of its talented writers in the recent Waverton Writes competition. Every year the residents of Waverton make an award to the best British debut novel published in the previous 12 months. This year the Good Read is celebrating its tenth anniversary and, as part of the celebrations, anyone living or working in Christleton, Waverton, or Rowton, was invited to submit original, unpublished pieces of writing for inclusion in an anthology.
We were delighted that Georgina Taylor (Year 10) was a prize winner in the children’s writing section, with Meredydd Jones (Year 10) as a runner up. Thomas Adam (Year 13) was highly commended in the adult section; along with a story by Bethan Carter (Year13) their writing has been published in the Waverton Writes anthology – you can read it in the iRC.
Ma th s Third Time Lucky
Well done to all the students who were in Year 11 in achieving a GCSE in Maths, particularly to those 88% who’ve already gained A* to C grade. Four students overcame the disappointment of getting a grade D twice, by working extremely hard this year to achieve the allimportant grade C when they re-sat in March. So huge congratulations go to Charlotte Nutall, Katie Thomas, Oliver Ashworth and Ryan Coppock. The girls are pictured below ripping up their exam papers to celebrate finally passing! Good luck to those students who re-sat in June with their results in August. Mr Sewell-Davies (KS4 Co-ordinator in Maths)
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Hot scholars Prize Draw Winners Two of this year’s Hot Scholars have won personalised T shirts; Jola Mrozek and Abi Stevenson got to design their own T shirts when Unique, a youth charity printing firm, kindly donated these prizes. Jola Mrozek, Hot Scholar in Drama says... I really like my T-shirt because I always dreamed of having a T-shirt with my name on it. I also like the fact that it is made from eco-friendly materials because it is good for the environment. I'm looking forward to wearing it.
Abi Stevenson, Hot Scholar in Art says... I put my card into the Hot Scholars’ prize draw; I wasn’t expecting to win……..but I did!! I won a T-shirt which I got to design myself. I created my inky ‘&’ design for the front of the T-shirt and put in my order. When I got my t-shirt back I really liked it and I was also told that the makers also really liked it a lot!! I appreciate the makers’ choice to use environmentally friend t-shirts which is really good for our eco-friendly school.
Unique is a young people’s design and textiles club, a shop and a clothing brand all based in Upton on the Wirral. They sell vintage clothes, printed T shirts, hoodies and art and craft items. In common with the Hot Scholars philosophy, Unique sees each person as an individual and puts a high emphasis on the value of every person and all contributions involved in the project. We are very grateful for the support that Unique has given to the Hot Scholars group and for the top quality T shirts that Jola and Abi are so pleased with.
The following Hot Scholars were also winners in recent prize draws:
Colette Chadwick,-English won a meal for two at the Cheshire Cat. Our Easter egg winners were Millie Goodwin - Child Development, Harry Hatwell - Classics and Adam Carlile - PE.
HOT S C HO L A R S
Erin Brackenbury from PE will soon be enjoying her £10 voucher for Cheshire Ice Cream Farm- she is the cat who got the cream.
Art and Business Hot Scholars Sophie Runciman, Charlotte Evans and Fliss Thomas have won boxes of chocolates.
We commend you and your fellow Hot Scholars on your individual and original contributions to our school community.
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
Christleton Country Farmers Market
Our farmers markets are guaranteed to be filled with fantastic food and produce, great offers and plenty of chat, you may even get good tips and advice from our friendly traders. Enjoy the unique shopping experience where the surroundings are picturesque and quality goods are offered.
Looks like the warm weather is (finally!) on its way.....and what a better way to celebrate by attending the Christleton Country Farmers Market where the fantastic spring produce can be enjoyed. The Ring O’ Bells has recently taken over the running of the markets which we are very excited about, there will be many returning stalls with the addition of some new faces. We realise the importance of buying locally produced everyday items which we make available at the
Expect to find... • • • • • • • • • •
markets, such as bread, cheese, fruit & vegetables, fish & meat as well as the more luxury items of homemade cakes and pies, organic soaps and handmade stitch work. We also have the more unique stalls selling items such as homemade dog treats! It is a great way to make your shopping basket greener and healthier! Traders provide customers with seasonal, locally grown, reared and produced items, helping support the local farmers and businesses.
Melt in the mouth homemade breads Delicious homemade cakes and jams Homemade soups Beautifully designed greeting cards Seasonal fruit & vegetables Locally reared meats A wide range of fresh fish Beautiful treat which will make lovely gifts Dog treat bakers ...Plus much much more
Make the most of our markets and join us inside the Ring O’ Bells for freshly ground coffee, real loose tea or a bite to eat off our delicious brunch menu. We open the pubs doors early from 9.30am on market days to assist in giving the shoppers the best experience possible.
Christleton Farmers Markets are a regular event held on the second Saturday of every month from 9.30am – 1.30pm. Make sure you get the date in your diary now for the next market.
Summer Term 2013
James Harker was signed by Tranmere Rovers FC in March 2011 for 2 years to train in the Academy as a potential professional footballer. He trains Monday evenings and is on a half day release from school to train on Thursday afternoons and evenings.
James He plays for them at weekends and also represents Chester
Congratulations
Top Tips for Learning...
‘Always read the question’ Miss Howarth
Spanish
Society trip to Manchester’s VIVA film festival
March 2013 was packed full of exams, deadlines and seemingly endless amounts of coursework for the whole of the sixth form, which was why the members of the Spanish Society were so excited to blow off some steam at the Latin film festival ‘VIVA’ in Manchester with fellow Hispanic enthusiasts! However, on the day of the eagerly anticipated trip, the Northwest suffered some of the worst snowfall in years and we
Schools. There are 22 other boys in the Academy at Tranmere and they have recently undergone an assessment to consider if they would be offered a new contract. James is one of 16 boys that have been retained by Tranmere and offered a new 2 year contract which I am sure he will accept.
had to decide whether or not to go ahead with our plans! But, in true CHS spirit we ploughed on against the odds and ended up having a brilliant night. When we arrived at the Cornerhouse Cinema, we chose to watch Gustavo Taretto’s latest film ‘Medianeras’ –a contemporary romantic comedy, which is said to be Argentina’s answer to Marc Webb’s ‘500 days of summer’- which proved to be a very good decision indeed.
After the film, we enjoyed tapas at a Spanish restaurant in the heart of Manchester called La Viña and savoured the relaxed Mediterranean atmosphere before the inevitable hard work began once more back at school on Monday morning! Cameron Tallant A-Level Spanish student.
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Food Glorious Food...
This term I decided to take cooking as an option in D&T; this will give me the chance to gain a level 2 BTEC qualification in home cooking skills, this is an equivalent to half a GCSE. I have D&T on Mondays and Fridays, Mondays are my theory lessons and Fridays are my practical lessons. For my practical lessons I cooked a range of foods from bread to stir fry. I was told to take photos for each cooking step and annotated them for homework. I filled in cooking skills records to show proof of my work. I was asked to complete tasks as a part of the course on things such as health and safety and economising food. This benefited me greatly as I now have a better knowledge of the food that I eat and also have learned some great cooking skills that I can now adapt at home. Emma Wilberforce 10L5
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
C la s s of 2013
A level Product Design: Textiles
Summer Term 2013
Around the World... ...with Bread As part of Enrichment Week, Year 9 students were given
the opportunity to experience a range of multi-cultural
activities. Within DT, all
students were given the
opportunity to taste various
breads and a range of foods which they had not
experienced before.
Comments ranged from ‘I
didn’t think I liked that’ to ‘I didn’t know so many breads existed’ and ’I’m going to
make some of that’. Some staff also came and
tasted….in fact; some came for morning break and then
lunch and then afternoon tea!
Special thanks to those boys who responded to the
invitation to ‘hoover’ up the
crumbs/leftovers at the end of the day (sorry not much was left!). We have been
inspired to hold more tasting events throughout next year
so watch for information in the bulletin.
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Smallpeice Year 9 Engineering Course, Easter 2013
In the Easter holidays four Year 9 students from Christleton High School had the opportunity to attend an Engineering Experience course at Liverpool University. The course was run by the Smallpeice Trust which is a charity that was founded by Dr Crosby Smallpeice, a self-taught engineer, who started an organisation that gave people from year 6 to year 12 the opportunity to try engineering. Year 9’s from all over the country came to Liverpool for 3 days to try a range of engineering activities. On arrival we were put into groups. I was in a group with people from all over the country. As an ice-breaker we had a competition to see who could make the tallest tower constructed entirely from marshmallows and spaghetti! There were 4 companies there running activities: Royal Navy, Rolls Royce, Jaguar Land Rover and Transport for London. Each of these companies gave a presentation about engineering in that company during the course.
Our activity with the Royal Navy was to build a boat that could float, hold bricks and move across a pool. We made our boat out of polystyrene, plastic and balsa wood. Our team also had a particular liking for the electrical insulation tape which we covered our boat with. When it came to test the boats, ours did well in that it could hold 10 bricks before collapsing. On the second day our second project was with Rolls Royce and we had to make a wind turbine that could generate power from a wind tunnel. We made one design
that didn’t work very well so as a group we designed two more which worked better and looked good and generated quite a lot of power.
On Tuesday evening we had the formal course dinner. We had drinks before finding out which table we were at. The groups were split up and we were sitting with people we didn’t know so we could meet lots of people. The food was good and afterwards there was a party which was a lot of fun.
Although there were four companies present we only got to do two of the activities because there wasn’t enough time to do them all. The groups with Transport for London had to build a tunnel out of clay and those with Jaguar Land Rover had to make a car that could drive on different types of ground. The course was a lot of fun and it was really good getting to try out different types of engineering. I thought it was nice getting to meet different people from all over the country, I made lots of friends and I am still talking to a lot of people I met there. I think that the course was really useful and it has definitely made me interested in engineering. There are courses all over the country in different areas of engineering. (See: smallpeicetrust.org.uk) If you get an opportunity to go on a course I would recommend it as it was a lot of fun and I would like to thank Christleton High Maths Department for contributing to funding my place on this course. Freya McConnell Year 9
Barton & Heaver to the RESCUE on the slopes of Tonale
Having gained excellent recommendations from the instructors at Passo Tonale it wasn't long until Barton and Heaver had a call up to help the Black Diamond team with emergencies. It was reported in the local press that Axon and Stenhouse (now the former Black Diamond Duo) were relaxing and had taken themselves off duty one afternoon from saving lives. The authorities were straight on the phone to Barton and Heaver who were reported at reaching the scheme in record time since the black Diamond emergency services started in 1933 (which was Mr Stenhouse’ s first year of service at the tender age of 21)
Barton and Heaver (pictured on the snowmobile) were likened to Batman and Robin as a result of their professional approach and quick thinking rescued a snow leopard out of a tree high up in the Italian mountains. The RSPCA had called it a miracle and have pushed a case forward to the Queen to have these two Christleton High School teachers commended.
Reports in the press have suggested that Axon and Stenhouse have lost their funding for the Black Diamond Duo and that Barton and Heaver have been promoted and are taking over the roll.
Find out more in next year’s addition of the SWAN to see how Barton and Heaver are getting on.
Summer Term 2013
Explore into Engineering course April 2013
Our Year 11 Classicists
In June, the Year 10 Classical Civilisation students sat their exam on the Odyssey; bringing to a close yet another successful year for the subject at Christleton. I really enjoyed classics as it gave me a greater understanding of a period of history otherwise left untouched in the curriculumthat of the Ancient world.
I really enjoyed the recent residential Engineering course held at Liverpool University as it helped me understand the different types of careers that engineering can offer in the future.
Companies such as Rolls Royce, the Royal Navy and London Underground all gave us presentations on what they do and how crucial engineers are to them. They set us projects to work on in small teams of four. My favourite one was where our team made a model of the London Underground in clay!
It was fun meeting other likeminded people and the formal dinner/disco and my own room in student digs gave me a real sense of independence. The food was great and I would love to have the opportunity to go on another similar course in the future. Lewis Gerrard (9BY1)
We began the course in September with the background preparation for the Nero controlled assessment; I found this especially interesting as I had never previously studied the Roman Empire in such depth and the Emperor’s life was presented in such invigorating detail by the scholars of the age. I find it truly amazing to think that such a powerful (and crazed) despot could fall into such disfavour as to be voted unfit by the Senate, as Nero was! After Christmas we moved onto the study of Homer’s Odyssey; the Ancient Greek epic poem which launched the course of western literature. We discovered the loyal and respected Penelope and the cruel man-eating
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Scylla whilst also learning Ancient Greek words such as xenia (the custom of hospitality), as well as about the epic poetry and oral transmission traditions. I was totally absorbed in Homer’s universal and moralistic adventure which takes you on Odysseus’ journey home after his cunning victory over the Trojans at Ilium (with the much lauded “Trojan Horse” saving the day). I can’t believe that classics is now over, however I hope to revisit the classics throughout my life and build
upon my love of learning about classical civilisations and their useful and ageless languages. I would recommend classics to anyone without hesitation!
Latterly, I would like to proffer a huge and unquantifiable thank you to Miss Beardsell for enriching our lives with the study of the Ancient empires of Greece and Rome. On another, yet not totally unrelated note, I would like to say that as the Hot Scholar for Classical Civilisation I will be endeavouring to work on yet more fun and exciting exploits throughout the rest of the year. Harry Hatwell 11L4
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Teen Hats
Year 9 embarked on their DT GCSE foundation courses in April and the textiles students were given the brief of designing, developing and making hats suitable for the teenage market. Here are some examples of the original design they came up with‌‌
Summer Term 2013
A fond farewell
It was 1975 when it really all began,
a degree then teaching practice for a student, name of Jan.
A laboratory with Bunsens and chalk dust on the floor,
not a sign of a computer or mobiles that’s for sure,
but the sound of children’s voices ring along the corridor.
A career in teaching Science really now had started,
with husband and young family on a path as yet uncharted.
From London, Kent and Berkshire to Cheshire and time flew,
arriving finally at Christleton which is where the roots then grew,
beneath a school of glowing quality with the future shining through.
Staff were friendly, bright and witty, talented and sound,
matched by students of great promise with their potential to be found.
Some loud, some contemplative, some who’d go that extra mile,
and there’s an overwhelming sense
that what you’re doing is worthwhile, so I’m content as I retire with a fond farewell and smile!
Mrs Jan Russell
An Introduction to Spanish and German for Cherry Grove Primary School
On the 22nd May 2013 the Year 9 MFL Hot Scholars (James Bagby, Grace Broughton, Emma Duthie, Emily Freeman, Lizzie Gornall, Freya McConnell, Emma Ogunyemi, Dominika Sadczuk, Adam Stanworth) were joined by Finlay Wojtan for their second visit to Cherry Grove Primary School. Following their previous successful visit, teaching French to year 3 and 4 pupils, this time they were given the challenge of delivering an introduction to Spanish and German for year 6. Grace, Emily and Lizzie went for Spanish numbers, colours and animals (including some Spanish songs), whereas Emma D, Emma O, Freya and Adam decided to teach Spanish greetings. James, Dominika and Finlay designed a lesson introducing numbers and useful phrases in German and finished off with a German quiz.
The students met up each week in MFL to plan, prepare and resource their lessons and were once again, superb ambassadors for the school, the department and for language learning. We were made to feel really welcome at Cherry Grove and the Year 6 pupils were fantastic, participating really well in all of the activities. Many thanks to Mrs Bailey and the Year 6 staff and pupils at Cherry Grove.
HOT SC HOLARS
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Enrichment week bird boxes
At the beginning of enrichment week a small group of 5 year 8 students were challenged with designing, developing and manufacturing an innovative bird box in just one day. Students worked really hard as a team to develop some really interesting designs. Here are the results!
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Summer Term 2013
Year 8 Gifted and Talented, Creative Writing visit to Llandudno: 4th June 2013
On a bright morning on 4th June, 10 of our brightest students went to Llandudno with students from 3 other Cheshire Schools as part of a Creative Writing Course. During the morning, students were shown round the Mostyn gallery, which contained examples of contemporary concept art, including; a room containing building blocks, where students were asked to contribute to the piece by building their own structures. Another exhibit allowed them to use typewriters to create their own art work. Overall, the art helped to inspire unique and creative ideas.
After lunch, the students were taken up the Great Orme by tram, to explore the landscape and learn about the “legend of the Orme”. Students then produced a creative writing piece inspired by the history and surroundings of the legendary place. Here is an example by Greame Mochrie which won the inter-school award…
“...Today we arrive in Hera Horma… I can understand
why sailors mistook it for a serpentine creature. Rocks jut out like jagged teeth and the bay greets you like
open jaws. It’s impressive spine like mountain range,
stretches beyond view where it remains hidden in the domain of the gods…
As we approached, ominous, long shadows trailed
under and around our long boat, and although we never saw these mysterious fish, we feared for our lives...” The whole day helped inspire creativity and allowed students to meet like-minded people from other schools...
Top Tips for Learning...
‘You need to find out which type of learner you are’ Miss Beardsell
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
Memories of an English teacher…
I started teaching at Christleton High in September 1975 in a mobile classroom at the edge of the junior yard-the middle room in a soulless block of three. That was the year the school expanded and became a comprehensive -a new, exciting educational concept- so I was one of sixteen new staff!
There was a much freer curriculum in those days so we would often take younger classes out to the Pit or to Promised Land Lane as a stimulus for creative writing-no risk assessment or mobile phone contact! Lessons in those days were seventy minutes long, unthinkable in today’s soundbite climate.
Under our highly committed head of department, Pam Pleavin, we all placed great importance on the presentation of written work and there was time to put more work on display in classrooms so students took pride in producing work of a high standard. I think handwriting has inevitably suffered as a result of children spending more time word-processing. I remember students writing poems stimulated by the dramatic blowing down in 1989 of the huge horse chestnut tree which used to stand at the front of school-luckily no one was hurt when it crashed to the ground. I also remember accompanying head of maths, Tony Hassall, and his year 7 form on a day trip to London, where we managed to leave one of the girls in the Whispering Gallery in St. Paul’s (not for too long!). One of the other girls on the trip was Annette Axon who now works in the finance department at school. During the 1990s the curriculum became increasingly restricted and onerous so that the time and
opportunities for staff social and fundraising activities almost disappeared; before that there were autumn fairs, darts competitions, treasure hunts, dances, fashion shows-as a member of the CHSA I helped to organise two of those using students as models. School productions were also much more of a whole school event than is the case today. It has been good to see the musicals over the last few years regain some of the spirit of those put on in the 70s and 80s.
Another positive area of ‘rebirth’ is the school ‘veggie garden’ which I have enjoyed being involved with over the last year under the leadership of Jane Parker, our eco guru. In the 1970s the present staff car park was the school garden with greenhouses and Rural Studies teacher, Bob Armitage, kept bees and goats, which students used to walk round the field at lunch time. Incidentally any parents reading this who remember Bob may like to know that he has just remarried after several years of widowhood.
I have always had a big involvement with the sixth form and I will miss the banter of relationships with older students. Even as a secondary modern the school did have a small sixth form so I was involved in teaching A level right from the beginning of my career. I loved discussing the issues raised in teaching A level literature, I was encouraged to introduce A level language in 1994 to a smallish committed group, several of whom were keen linguists. Teaching myself linguistics was a challenge and sometimes I was only a few steps ahead of the students but we developed a strong bond and I still keep in touch with some of them. I am proud that the subject has flourished and proved a popular and successful option for many students.
I have also been a sixth form tutor for most of my time at the school. This involved annual trips to London in February half term and the setting up of an induction course for the new lower sixth
which ran for many years. More recently I took part in the memorable trek to Annapurna Sanctuary in 2009. It has been a privilege and immensely satisfying to have been involved in supporting so many young people at what is such an important transitional time in their lives. For a few years a maths colleague and friend, Di Morley, and I led volunteer teams of sixth formers to produce yearbooks as mementos for leaving year 13 students; sometimes a challenging enterprise teaching teamwork and time-management skills, it was always exciting to see the final product and I hope these are still cherished objects in some households-replaced now by the social networking sites and the immediacy of mobile phones, of course. The culmination of this Morley/Platel collaboration was the production of the book celebrating the school’s 50th anniversary in 2008, a demanding yet fascinating undertaking.
Public Speaking is a life skill I have always enjoyed nurturing in students, initially through the competitions organised by the English Speaking Union at Stanley Palace and more recently through the Rotary Youth Speaks competitions. It was a nail-biting experience to watch two talented students, Neil Ashdown and Dan Brattan, verbally sparring with an equally talented duo in the national final of the ESU Mace sixth form debating competition at Westminster School and an equally proud moment to see them on stage at Cardiff University in the national final of the Youth Speaks competition in 2004.
Writing these ‘memoirs’ has brought home to me how central words have been throughout the whole of my career. Having spent all of it at this school, reminds me that the three words of the school motto ‘happy, hardworking and courteous’ have underpinned my working life and I hope I have always maintained those values as a member of the “happy school family” established by Les George, the original head of the school, who appointed me.
Summer Term 2013
Thank You and Farewell…
I nervously started Christleton Secondary Modern School in 1964. Five Years later, thanks to an inspiring culture and amazing teachers, I left determined to be a PE Teacher. Little did I know that in 1975, I would be returning to work at the school.
I have had the privilege of being Senior Teacher/Head of Year, teaching PE, Geography/Environmental Science and continue to be inspired by those around me on a daily basis.
Annually, I am stunned by the academic, sporting, music and drama performances of our many talented students. I have happy memories of awesome Ski Trips and Water Sports courses in Europe, USA and Canada. I’ve shared the pain and joys of The Duke of Edinburgh Award students from Bronze through to Gold. I am so lucky to have worked with dedicated staff, wonderful students, supportive parents and caring governors. I’ve had the best time, the best job in the best school. Thank you again
Mrs Linda Evans
Design Technology Year 8/9
M e t a l w or k
For this project we had Mrs Stewart and were designing and making jewellery with a Natural theme. After researching nature we thought of some ideas for our product. We also produced a poster of ideas and walked around the classroom commenting on each other’s work. We decided what materials we were going to use to make our jewellery. We could use brass, copper, aluminium and pewter. We had to decide how we would manufacture it. We could cut, cast, enamel and rivet our materials.
We enjoyed this opportunity of working with metals and can’t wait to do it again. Lucy Joyce 9BY2 and Jasmine Prince 9BA2
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Students Reach New Heights during STEM day:
Once this information was discovered, the students had to then decide which size balloon would support the 3D printed scale model of Felix’s capsule in order to remain at neutral buoyancy. This was a real challenge faced by the Red Bull Stratos team to work out how to keep Felix’s capsule still at 128,100ft. The day was engaging and gave students the opportunity to appreciate how STEM subjects can be used together in order to solve real-life design problems. Mr Britton
130 Year 9 students had the fantastic opportunity to visit the Active Labs at the University of Liverpool during Enrichment week. The objective of the trip was not only to complete Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) related activities, but also an opportunity for students to experience the amazing facilities at the university campus. Activities included a science quiz based in the universities radioactive laboratories, a ‘science is cool’ interactive lecture, which involved the lecturers having a lot of fun with liquid nitrogen and finally the magnet challenge, where students had to make a pencil float in mid-air! The real highlight of the day was the STEM challenge. Students had to act as the engineers behind the unbelievable Red Bull Stratos project, the mission to the Edge of Space and Supersonic free-fall, which was completed by Felix Baumgartner
on the 14th October 2012. In the challenge, students had to use their knowledge learnt in maths and science to help problem solve this engineering challenge. In teams, the students had to work out the relationship between the circumferences of a weather balloon which was filled with helium and the mass that it was holding in order to keep the balloon at neutral buoyancy.
Summer Term 2013
On 23rd January Andy Hutt from Learning Potential, gave a presentation to all staff on how new technologies could be used to enhance learning and teaching‌ many of these new initiatives have since been incorporated into lessons, such as Padlet Walls that Mrs Chapman has been using in Health and Social care and Mrs Roberts in science.
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Recycled Plastic Bottle Greenhouse Project The first part of this project was to collect 1,500 2 litre bottles, which took 9 months! However the worst part was stripping all the bottles of their labels and removing all of the lids. This was the tedious task set for Mr Britton’s final year 9 lesson. The whole class contributed and it was like a manual conveyor belt! We got hundreds of bottles and peeled off all of the labels and we threw away all of the Evian bottles as they were not appropriate. The multi-coloured lids were donated to the art department who will be using them for a future art project. We
also cut the bottom of the bottles off and these were also donated to art to use as brush holders. Finally, we then had to stack this mass of bottles in Mr B’s cupboard and this was ridiculously difficult to do as they all fell down. In activities week some students from the Eco club and STEM club started to build the greenhouse. We began with simple jobs; drilling holes in bottles, drilling holes in wood, sanding them, connecting the bottles, cleaning the bottles, painting the frame, cutting bamboo and actually building the walls. I began sanding and painting the boards. Everyone else was doing the other jobs. After a while we started to build one of the walls. In doing this, we ran into some problems. The bamboo was too long, there were not enough bottles and the frame would not fit together. We solved these issues and by the end of the day,two walls were built and all the bottles were ready for the next walls.
Summer Term 2013
In STEM club, we continued the work. Some people cut the bottoms off the bottles and washed them out. Others cut the bamboo to the right size, so that the cut bottles could be put on them; these would be the walls of the greenhouse. Other people painted with wood preserver which stops the framework from biodegrading and rotting and also making them always look nice. At the moment the four walls are assembled and the roof is ready to be attached. We’re also going to put down paving slabs that were donated by a local resident from Christleton and finally attach the roof panels and the apex frame to complete the project. To see the finished project, please come and visit the eco garden.
Patrick Buckley, Emily Freeman 10B5 and Grace Broughton 10B1
Well done to all of the students who have been involved in the project:
Dylan Westoby Freya McConnell Grace Broughton Emily Freeman Sophie Runciman Anna Thompson Patrick Buckley Charlotte Timms Cameron Mochrie James Mizen Oliver Dandy Conor Anstey Dominika Sadczuk Blythe Walker Tyler Jones Jack Murphy Jordanna Mayer Mr Britton’s year 9 class!
Congratulations to the GCSE Electronic Products Class of 2013
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The Transition Project On three days in May, the Transition Project was held for Year 6’s (our upcoming Year 7’s) from primary schools in and around Chester which gave them the opportunity to meet their new Year Head, participate in fun and interactive activities as well as get a feel for Christleton High School and getting answers to any questions they may have had. Around 60 to 70 students attended on each day from numerous primary schools in the area, such as Cherry Grove, Christleton Primary, Boughton Heath, Oldfield, Huntington Primary and others.
Year 10, (now 11), Media students also participated in the day to help out with the activities and provide tours of the school, as well as answer any questions about what it’s like to be a student in Christleton.
Each day began at 9am, beginning with a small introductory talk from the organisers to the Year 6 students that showed them how the day would run and what activities they would be doing. The Year 6 students also got the chance to meet Mrs. Lister, who will be their Year Head in Year 7, and they were also introduced to Mr. Francis. The day ensured that the Year 6’s would meet some of the other students who would be in their year in September, so on each day multiple, mixed groups were devised that allowed them to meet some new people and make some new friends along the way. With each group, around 2 to 3 of the Year 10 helpers were allocated to help the Year 6’s with the activities, answer any questions and show them around the school. This applied to all 3 days.
On each day, the Year 6 students were given the task to create an eBook all about Christleton High School. i-Pads were issued to each group complete with the app “Book Creator” which allowed the students to create an interactive book with information and pictures of the school. Each group was split into 2 or 3 pairs, which allowed the Year 6’s to interact with new people and make some new friends, as well as
collaborate and work as a team. After we’d all sat down in our groups, we worked together to devise a plan of our eBook, which involved a lot of discussion and teamwork. It was also a great opportunity for the Year 6’s to ask questions and mention areas of the school they wanted to visit. Once we’d finished planning, it was up to us to create the eBooks using the plans we had devised. This gave the Year 6’s a great chance to visit areas of the school and take pictures as they saw fit, with the Year 10’s answering questions along the way. The Year 6’s also had both breaktime and lunchtime on the Junior Yard, where they will be in September, so it gave them yet more opportunity to familiarise themselves with the new surroundings and meet their soon-tobe fellow classmates! At the end of the day, the groups all gathered together once again and everyone viewed the books that had been created. It was a really fun and interactive way for the Year 6’s to learn more about the school, as well as visit any areas they had a particular interest in. It also helped them to familiarise themselves with the layout of the school, the teachers and some of the older students already attending, which was a good way to help them with their transition when they start in September. The Year 6’s also had a lot of questions about the school day, subjects and homework that they wanted to have answered so the activity and the day as whole gave them the opportunity to ask and receive answers to those questions from experienced students. As a whole, all 3 days proved to be a success, with dozens of creative and innovative eBooks being created by the Year 6’s. Everyone collaborated and worked together really well, and everyone ensured that the Year 6’s left without any unanswered questions before they start in September. It was a lot of fun to meet with the Year 6’s and listen to their questions and ideas, and without a doubt the day was a huge success!
Paige Johnson 11B4
Summer Term 2013
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“It was fun. Although there are many differences there are a lot of similarities also. At the end of the day we are all the same!” – Josef H
Rising to the Maths Challenge
“It was really fun and you learned a lot.” – Myles “I learnt a lot and it was fun.” – Finley
This year was one of our most successful Years in the UK Maths Challenge. In the Junior Challenge, 68 students from Years 7 and 8 achieved certificates, with 8 Gold, 22 Silver and 38 Bronze. For the first time, this included 3 students from our partner primaries, 2two of whom achieved bronze, whilst Alasdair Hopwood from Oldfield Primary gained Gold, as well as the Best in School Certificate!
In the Intermediate Challenge, 30 students from Years 9, 10 and 11 achieved certificates, with 3 Gold, 14 Silver and 13 Bronze. Well done to Yidan Hou, Katy Boyce and Callum Griffiths who all won Gold, with Callum also qualifying for the pink kangaroo! Congratulations to Georgina Taylor (Year 10) and Emma Ogunyemi (Year 9) for gaining silver and being the best in their respective years.
Pictured from left to right are most of the Junior Gold winners: Kit Tillotson (Best in Year 8), Joe Shaw, Ewan Hearn, Sam Richards, Thomas Attwater & David Dentith. Missing from the photo is Catherine Heath who achieved the best in Year 7. Congratulations from the maths department to all those students who participated.
“We visited lots of different religions and it was so fun.” – Maggie
‘Places of Worship’ Year 7
visits June, 2013
“They told us lots of different things and stuff I already knew. However, it helped to develop my brain.” – Emily B “It was fun. You got to learn about lots of different religions and they gave you food.” – Cara
“It was really fun yet still educational to see how different religions have so many differences and similarities. It was a great experience!” – Catherine H
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
The 2013 Dux Awards – Visit to Southampton University
On the Monday and Tuesday of activities week James Leyland and I (Emily Freeman) got to go on the Dux awards trip. The Dux award is when one high-performing student is chosen as the Dux for their school. The prize is a visit to a Russell Group university for the Dux and their teacher. If there are enough spaces a reserve is also taken. I chose to go to the University of Southampton because the day planned involved Physics and Astronomy; two subjects that I enjoy.
On the Monday we met at Chester station (when James realised he’d forgotten his lunch… pfft…), before taking the train down to London. In London, we took the tube from Waterloo and we ate our lunch outside the Natural History Museum and then went into the Science Museum. There were plenty of exhibits of historical medical devices, which James really didn’t like, and various Maths and Physics equipment used in the past. We also jumped around, doing the alternative energy source activity and before leaving, looked at lots of the rockets and space shuttles… Oh, and a landing capsule! Finally, before heading back to Euston, we got Ice Creams! Nom Nom Nom! Once we’d taken the tube back to Euston, we took the train to Southampton and the first thing we
did in Southampton was going to WestQuay shopping centre to get our tea. We eventually managed to find the Pizza Hut, but not before getting lost for about 5 minutes, on various lifts and escalators! They went up, down, here and everywhere! After our meal, we got a taxi to our hotel; where we checked in with a concierge who continuously said “Oookaaaaay” in an almost ‘mock’ posh accent. After checking in, we dropped off our bags and went on a walk to find the best way to walk to the University the following day. On the way back to the hotel we saw a man walking a ferret, which was very funny. The next day we went to the University. Firstly, they gave a presentation, telling us about the Dux award and Russell Group Universities. We then split up into groups and from our teachers. The first thing that our group did was go to the EEE building and race balloons as if they were rockets, looking at how their shape and size affected their speed. We also got to play on a space junk game. We then walked back to the Physics building, where we got to go into the Astrodome and have a 45 minute talk on some of the aspects of space, and how to tell what they are doing. The man that did the talk was interesting and put everything into perspective for us. Next, we had a tour of the Highfield Campus and ate our lunch on one of the grassy slopes. Finally, (the a part I’d been looking forward to since the beginning presentation) we got to experience the Light Express Laser Show, which was amazing, and we learned that LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) should really be LOSER (Light Oscillation by Stimulated
Emission of Radiation), but nobody wanted to be a LOSER specialist! At the end of the day we got a train back to London. We arrived at Euston over an hour before our train was due. We went around on the Underground again and decided to try out some of the lifts. They are really awkward to be in and rocked about lots! We then went to Waterloo Station, ate our tea and chatted for a while; before realising that our train was going to leave in a couple of minutes. We then had to run to the furthest away platform, and luckily, managed to get on the train about 1 minute before it left. We arrived back in Chester at around 21:15, looking forward to going to Alton Towers the following day.
Overall it was a really great 2 days and it gave us a chance to experience different things. Did you know they invented the fibre optic there in Southampton? Thank you Mrs Mothersdale for taking us and to everyone that was involved!
Summer Term 2013
Mr Evans from Science led a session on ‘Layered Learning’. Using a new app called’ Layar’. An iPhone or iPad can be overlaid onto written resources such as case studies and worksheets, and show ‘floating’ links to internet based resources. This will allow students to enhance the information they have available to increase their depth of understanding of the topic being studied It will also mean that they are less reliant on the teacher for information thus encouraging greater independence.
Exciting Science
Baking Soda & Vinegar Volcano
Use baking soda and vinegar to create an awesome chemical reaction! Watch as it rapidly fizzes over the container and make sure you've got some towels ready to clean up. What you'll need: • Baking Soda (make sure it's not baking powder) • Vinegar • A container to hold everything and avoid a big mess! • Paper towels or a cloth (just in case)
Instructions: 1. Place some of the baking soda into your container. 2. Pour in some of the vinegar 3. Watch as the reaction takes place! What's happening? The baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is a base while the vinegar (acetic acid) is an acid. When they react together they form carbonic acid which is very unstable, it instantly breaks apart into water and carbon dioxide, which creates all the fizzing as it escapes the solution. For extra effect you can make a realistic looking volcano. It takes some craft skills but it will make your vinegar and baking soda eruptions will look even more impressive!
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School Support Voluntary Work Experience placements Christleton High School is a high performing 11-18 Cheshire school which became an Academy in 2011. As part of our
contribution to our community, we are starting a programme
of help, offering work experience to those that are having difficulty starting their career.
Are you or someone that you know interested in work
experience where you will develop transferable marketable skills and gain the satisfaction of making a real and valued contribution to the school?
Placements for highly motivated individuals are available within School Administration, Finance, ICT Support and Facilities Maintenance.
Excellence:
A personalised experience based in a successful school.
Employability:
Contrasting school based experiences and a school based
mentor who will know you, and work with you to increase
your opportunity for employment.
Excitement:
School based learning, where you will be working alongside committed professionals.
Enquiry:
Please send a covering letter outlining the work experience
you are interested in and CV to
enquiries@christletonhigh.co.uk Applicants should be aged 18+ and will be required to have a CRB check.
Year 7 CAMP
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
Year 7 camp was amazing! Both the activities and food were brilliant! The first activity I did was raft building… we got very wet! We had to play rock, paper, scissors to see whether the boys’ team or the girls’ team should sail first. The boys’ team won so they got to go on first. Only one person fell in the boys’ team, so us girls thought it was very stable… it turned out that it wasn’t, the raft completely fell
apart! Even if you didn’t fall in, you still had the opportunity to jump in at the end.
We did many other activities such as: Bush craft, (where we made nettle tea) climbing, archery, caving, satnav walk, tree tops (where Miss Lister had a go! She was so proud of herself she took a picture of herself on her phone when she was on the highest point), high ropes and more.
The food was just delicious! The breakfasts, lunches and teas. The first day we had either porridge, (the hot option changed every day) coco pops, rice crispies, frosties or bread with jam and butter for breakfast. Then for lunch there was a selection of fillings and we got to make our own sandwiches. Then for tea we pasta with Bolognese sauce. There was a different option of tea to choose from each night. Even if you’re not used to camping in a tent, it doesn’t matter. They provide you with a mat to sleep on and it’s very cosy once you have got the tent all set up. It’s great because you get to stay in a tent with
your friends, even if you aren’t in a tent with any of your friends, you make new friends and you become really close.
Personally I think camp was great, and I would recommend it to anyone.
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I had a good experience at year 7 camp because I developed a lot of skills and got to take part in some exciting activities! I learnt new skills in climbing and also learnt how to make rafts. As well as this, we learnt some bush craft skills that may come in handy one day! I developed skills in teamwork because we took part in a lot of team building activities.
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
I had a good experience because I made new friends and had good time with my other friends.
I learnt new skills in climbing and bush craft. I developed skills in teamwork because we did raft-building and orienteering.
Summer Term 2013 ‘We always look forward to Christleton coming to
High Adventure, but I think that you may have
been the best group yet’. What an amazing thing to hear from the camp leader at the end of an amazing week.
The photographs should speak for themselves, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank High Adventure for having us and running an amazing
camp, all the staff who came and were brilliant and finally all the students that attended for being outstanding!’ Miss Edwards (A very proud Head of Year)
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It’s all about the taste… 46
The Swan Christleton High School Magazine Summer Term 2013
Over the last couple of weeks, Mrs Kelly’s Year 8 Food group have been experimenting with different tastes whilst making fiery wedges and all-in-one ‘roux’ sauce. We have been using a range of dried herbs and spices and comparing them with fresh chives, parsley, basil and mint from the school garden.
We made loads of different combinations of sauces and encouraged each other to try things we had not tried before. The class had lots to say: ‘Ooh! That is gorgeous!’, ‘I think that needs more seasoning’, ‘That’s a good combination’, ‘I don’t like that, it would be better if….’, ‘At first it is ‘kinda’ weird but then it
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is lovely!’, ‘That tastes like it has a lots of salt in it’. The aim of the Year 8 Food course is to get us to be more adventurous by tasting different foods and learning to make up recipes for ourselves... so that we can continue cooking at home. We are having a great time so far...
Favourite sauces included: Mint and salt Salt and pepper Cheese, chives and sweetcorn Cheese and onion Red pepper, onion, cheese, parsley and chives Red Pepper, onion, sweetcorn and parsley Parsley, mint and chives
Park Life... Summer Term 2013
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Thurstaston Field Trip
positive. It was a great opportunity to get out there and spend a great day learning and enjoying ourselves. We were able to study amazing ponds, a beautiful landscape and the relaxing beach. All of these were packed with fun activities to enjoy. I am sure that the next year to go there will enjoy it is much as I did. Bryn Heard 9Ba1
On Monday 3rd June and Friday 7th June Year 8 Geography students visited Wirral Country Park for a fieldwork investigation into sustainable tourism. Tourist Amenity Surveys were carried out in four locations within the Country Park assessing the extent to which the park meets the needs of tourists today, the facilities provided and the methods used to try protect the environment for future generations. Students walked along the beach identifying problems relating to coastal erosion and cliff collapse, assessed the success of some methods of coastal management and looked at how the park was trying to increase biodiversity by encouraging the development of pond and meadow habitats. The weather on both days was warm and sunny giving students an opportunity to picnic in the sun and enjoy a well-earned ice cream at lunch time.
Here is what one student had to say: For me it was a great experience, a once in a lifetime opportunity. The Year 8 class (now the new Year 9) went on this trip to study sustainable tourism and came back very
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Summer Term 2013 The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
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Geography in the News
makes it onto the ‘WOW Wall’
June saw the first instalment of ‘Geography in the News’ for the WOW Wall. It is a new initiative within the Geography department to bring to the attention of all students, current and relevant news events with a geography link. The first instalment featured news headlines appearing in global newspapers throughout the month of May and included ‘hot topics’ such as the Boston bombings, the tornado in Oklahoma and the resignation of the Pope. It is planned to feature in future such topics as ‘freaky weather’ ‘crime ‘ and ‘natural hazards’ as they have appeared in the news over the last 12 months, with a ‘WOW Wall’ edition every term... So watch this space! Thanks to Zac Hirst, Alex Probyn, Jack Jones, Ben Grace and Daniel Wait who created the display and to Geography Hot Scholars Lucy Osborne, Jennie Wilkinson, Isobel Griffin-Morris, Amber Rigden, Romey Davies and Lloyd Roberts for their research and input to the news content featured. Mrs Mann
Top Tips for Learning...
‘Always drink water through the day your brain needs hydrating’ Miss Kelly
STEM
Christleton Primary School Year 6’s visit to the Science Department on Thursday 6th June 2013 with Miss Arends (Head of Chemistry), Miss Chapman (Biology Teacher), Miss Pitchford (Advanced Skills Teacher in Maths)
Based on the success of the exciting science assembly, and wanting to keep the momentum going, I invited the Year 6’s from Christleton Primary to come in for a STEM inspired day. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)
The aim of the day was for the students to work as part of a research and development team to design, build and test 4 different aircraft : airplane, helicopter, parachute and rocket.
It was based on the theory of flight and students were shown a video clip of the Wright Brothers first flight in 1903 in North Carolina, USA. We discussed factors affecting flight such as gravity, weight, thrust and drag by air resistance. All of which they had to take into account when designing their air craft.
This was a half-day session, so the students had a lot to complete in that time.. The students arrived at 9am and left by 12pm so they had a tight time schedule to achieve their goals. The students responded brilliantly and were impeccably behaved through-out.
In order to help the students work independently in their teams, all groups were issued with i-pads. They quickly learned how to use the QR readers to be able to access websites which included the clips that I had shown them on the power point. They would review the links and ensure that they could complete the tasks with minimum support for the staff. They rose to the challenge and produced very good quality air craft to test.
Summer Term 2013
Task 1 : Chose, build and test 2 air plane designs : success criteria : longest distance travelled. These were tested out on the school field, next to our picnic area.
Top 3 teams got a small prize. Longest distance = 11.2 m by Death Plane
Task 2 : Build and test a helicopter : success criteria : quickest speed on falling. These were tested off the metal stair case.
Top 3 teams got a small prize. Students had to calculate the speed of their helicopter using the speed equation.
Fastest helicopter = 9.3 m/s by Team Pink
Task 3 : Build and test a parachute : success criteria : slowest speed on falling. These were tested off the metal stair case.
Top 3 teams got a small prize. Students had to calculate the speed of their parachute using the speed equation.
Slowest parachute = 0.8 m/s by Virgin Airborne Airlines
Task 4 : Build and test a stomp rocket : success criteria : longest distance travelled.
These were tested out on the school field, next to our picnic area.
Top 3 teams got a small prize. Longest distance = 18.4 m by Sky High
All students received a small treat for their huge efforts during the morning.
We are hoping to make this an annual event during activities week.
Miss Shaw from Christleton Primary School said: A huge thank you from myself and the year 6 class - we had a brilliant morning doing science with you the children were so engaged and excited by it. Thank you for taking the time to invite us and organise such a great event for the children.
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A Visit to Number 10
On the 29th April 2013, we went on a Politics and Law trip to London to visit Parliament and the Supreme Court. From the moment we boarded the train things were starting to go wrong. We sat in the wrong seats and had to change later on, and then it turned out we had forgotten the passes for Parliament. Then on the tube, minus Mrs Holme who was waiting for the passes, there were delays due to issues with the track so we decided to switch lines. But we didn’t realise that the other half of the group hadn’t got off the train with us. Which lead to Mrs Laidler getting incredibly worried. Luckily though the other group was on the train just after ours so we only had to wait for a minute before continuing on to Downing Street where we were reunited with Mrs Holme and had our whole group back. At Downing Street we posed for photos outside Number 10 Downing Street, we also got to meet Mrs Laidler’s son and Boris Johnson’s brother on his way in to Downing Street.
Then we walked down to Parliament Square so we could go and visit Parliament. Inside we split into Politics and Law classes. The Politics class got to meet their tour guide Patrick, unfortunately we did not get to do the full tour because Parliament was preparing for the state opening, however we did get to look at the House of Lords and the House of Commons. We then waited around for Stephen Mosley to come and talk to us…he was nowhere to be seen. Mrs Holme rang him, he said there had been a ‘mix up’… he was still in Chester.
During this, we were talking with an armed guard, he was telling us about his work and of course the guys asked about his gun. He was so annoyed with the esteemed MP that he helped arrange for us to go into the small Chapel underneath Parliament, which had recently been where Mrs Thatcher had rested before her funeral.
After the Parliament part the politics class got to have free
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Hand’s up - what is your ‘Attitude to Learning’? The new criteria are detailed below, but the main changes are:
During the last term we have been looking at how to improve the way that we use our Lesson Monitor grading system. It has been a really useful tool for tracking students’ effort and behaviour but we felt that it could be developed further…and the students agreed! Taking feedback from staff, student voice and parents we have made some fundamental changes to Lesson Monitor that we feel greatly enhance the way we use it and the data it provides for us. time, whereas the law group had lunch then went to the supreme court. At the Supreme Court we were all excited. Our lovely tour guide took us into the Privy Council Chamber. She explained the ins and outs of what the Supreme Court did. We even got to sit in on the most interesting case. Finally the Law group got to have some free time.
The people in each group varied how they spent there free time, some went on Boris bikes and pretended to be One Direction others went sightseeing and saw the palace. The Law group went to Harrods, where someone bought a bag. On our way there though we again had issues with the underground as the group got on the wrong tube again. Then we all began to head back towards the train station to meet up and get our train back to Chester. It was an amazing trip but we were so tired by the end of the day and couldn’t wait to go home. Matt Coathupe, Chloe Graves, Matt Fletcher Hunt, Heather Hughes & Ellie Osborne
-A move from 4 grades to 5. We have added in a grade to help us to distinguish between the students who are quietly working hard and those who, although not being disruptive, are not taking part in the lesson fully. The students felt that it was too easy to get a ‘2’ and they were losing their value. With the addition of the extra grade, ‘2’ has been re-stated as ‘good’ and worth achieving.
-Incorporating elements of Building Learning Power (BLP). We describe it to the students as driving their learning as opposed to being a passenger. We wanted to be able to give recognition for developing attributes such as collaboration and perseverance as well as giving credit for being well prepared and ready to learn. If students do not complete homework, or are not prepared for their lesson they will be graded as a ‘3’ at best.
-Re-branding of the Lesson Monitor criteria to ‘Attitude to Learning’ to encompass the various elements of successful learning.
The new criteria have been developed in conjunction with staff and student groups. They have been shared through
assemblies and form time and are publicised throughout school with artwork, stickers and ‘hand’ posters. Abi Stevenson (Y11 Art Hot Scholar) designed a fabulous piece of artwork to show the colours and the messages behind the grades – thanks for your help Abi!
We will continue to use the Attitude to Learning data to celebrate achievement as well as challenge under-performance. Don’t forget that you can track your child’s Attitude to Learning grades using SIMS Learning Gateway (SLG), there is further information about this on the school website. Lisa Begbie Head of Year 9
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Exciting Science Science Department visit to Christleton Primary School on Thursday 18th April 2013 By Miss Arends (Head of Chemistry) and Miss Howarth (Associate Teacher) Chemistry : Lava lamp, fire triangle, whoosh bottle, elephants toothpaste
Biology : Making vomit and making poo !
We had a request from Year 6 teacher Miss Shaw to go and deliver an assembly on Science. Miss Howarth and myself came up with a range of fun and exciting science demonstrations based around Physics, Chemistry and Biology, to give these young students a passion for science. The aim was to generate that wow factor and the demonstrations were short, sharp and effective, with plenty of ahhhs and oohhhs generated throughout !
The physics demonstrations included : Static balloons, bending water, water spouts, cloud in a bottle, exploding marshmallows.
We actually ended up delivering an hour’s assembly to all of the Juniors (Years 4, 5 & 6) . We started the session by tipping out a huge bag of air filled small balloons all over the students, which the students kept stuck to them throughout ! The students were asked questions throughout to test their general science knowledge and both myself and Miss Howarth were very impressed with their responses. The students gave some truly excellent answers, using scientific language and articulating their responses beautifully. Full credit to the staff teaching science at Christleton Primary as they are preparing their young students well for their secondary school education.
At the end of the assembly all students were given a booklet to take home, which had information of 12 experiments that they could safely do with adult supervision. These included making their own volcano, bath salt and details on making their own lava lamp.
We are hoping to make this assembly an annual event, filtering down to the even younger students.
Mr Harker, Headteacher of Christleton Primary School said:
I just wanted to thank you and your colleague for coming in to school to do the science assembly for the children as part of our science week. The children loved it – particularly the ‘being sick’ bit!! As did the staff! It was great to see the children’s reactions and the fact they were so focussed for the whole time showed how good the input was. One of the children told me afterwards that you obviously were real scientists because you were wearing white coats and special glasses!!
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Relax with Beautiful Bath Salts Whether you're making a special present for someone else, experimenting at home or just want to relax in a hot bath, give this experiment a go. Create your own bath salts with a variety of refreshing fragrances, experiment with different essential oils to see which you like best. What you'll need: • 1 cup of washing soda • A plastic bag • A rolling pin (or something similar that can crush lumps) • A bowl • A spoon for stirring • Essential oil • Food colouring
Needle through a balloon
Have you ever seen someone pop a balloon with a needle? Is it possible to stick a needle through a balloon without popping it? What you'll need: • balloons • long wooden or metal skewers • petroleum jelly • a sharp pin • cellophane tape
Instructions: 1. Blow up a balloon – not too full – and tie the opening shut.
2. Dip the tip of a skewer in Vaseline and spread the Vaseline along the entire length of the skewer. If you are careful, you should be able to push the skewer all the way through the balloon without popping it. 3. Insert the skewer with a gentle twisting motion into the end of the balloon opposite the knot.
4. Continue pushing and twisting the skewer until the tip emerges from the other end, near the knot. Why doesn't the balloon pop? 5. Now try to stick the skewer into the side of the balloon. What happens?
What's happening? The rubber in the balloon consists of many long molecules that are linked together. It's similar to the way all of the noodles in a plate of spaghetti stick together. These long molecules are called polymers; when molecules of a polymer are chemically attached to each other, it is called cross-linking. These links hold the polymer molecules together and allow them to stretch…up to a point. When the force or tension pulling on the cross-links is too great, they will break, and the polymer will pull apart. Look at the rubber near the ends of the balloon where you first inserted the skewer. Does it look lighter or darker than the rubber in the rest of the balloon?
The rubber at the ends of the balloon is stretched out less than in the middle of the balloon. Therefore, there is less force pulling on it. This allows the tip of the skewer to break some polymer cross-links, push aside the molecules of rubber, and slide into the balloon.
Instructions: 1. Take the cup of washing soda and put it into a plastic bag. Crush the lumps with a rolling pin or similar object. 2. Empty the bag into a bowl and stir in 5 or 6 drops of your favourite essential oil such as rosemary, lavender or mint. 3. Stir in a few drops of food colouring until the mixture is evenly coloured. 4. Put the mixture into clean dry containers and enjoy as you please. What's happening? Bath Salts are typically made from Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate), table salt (sodium chloride) or washing soda (sodium carbonate). The chemical make up of the mixture makes it easy to form a lather. Bath salts are said to improve cleaning and deliver an appealing fragrance when bathing.
PAR S
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On est allé à Paris en Mars,
on a voyagé en bus et quand nous sommes arrivés, nous sommes allés à Disneyland
Paris! C'était très passionnant car j'adore Disney, on a
passé un jour fantastique et les manèges étaient très effrayants.
Le deuxième jour, nous
sommes allés voir Paris, on est monté à la Tour Eiffel,
c’était incroyable! Après la Tour Eiffel, nous sommes
allés sur un bateau le long de la Seine, nous avons vu Notre-Dame, le pont de
l’Archevêché où il y a des ‘cadenas d’amour’.
Ensuite, nous avons marché pendant un très long temps pour arriver au restaurant
pour le déjeuner, on a mangé dans un restaurant qui
s'appelle Flunch, c'était près
du Centre George Pompidou.
J’ai passé un très bon temps et j'adore Paris! Kate Gibbons Year 10
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Notre voyage à Paris
D’abord j’ai pensé que le voyage a été très
passionnant, parce que nous sommes allé à Disneyland
Paris pour une journée. Il y
avait plein de manèges, qui étaient assez rapides mais très amusants! Aussi,
Disneyland a beaucoup des magasins donc j’ai pu
acheter des cadeaux pour
ma famille et des bonbons.
Le jour suivant, nous avons visité beaucoup d’
attractions touristiques,
telles que la Tour Eiffel et le Sacré Coeur. Sans aucun
doute la vue de la Tour Eiffel
sur Paris était magnifique, et
j’ai trouvé les peintures dans la Sacre Cour très belles! Nous avons logé dans un
grand hôtel qui était assez moderne. J’ai aimé l’hôtel parce que les chambres
étaient très spacieuses et la nourriture délicieuse.
Globalement, j’ai passé des
vacances incroyables, parce que j’ai pu passer du temps avec mes amis, visiter des
monuments célèbres et aller à un assez grand parc d’attractions !
Megan Russon Year 10
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Introducing Building Learning Power Helping young people become better learners
One of the hardest things about teaching is that we usually know the answers. Teachers are naturally helpful people and so we have a tendency to want to tell our students what we know. It will help our students get good exam results and that also means we are doing our jobs too. However despite the fact that telling students the answers appears to be perfectly logical there is a lot of research into the psychology of how people learn which suggests that teachers should stop themselves telling their students the answers. Instead we should design situations where the students figure them out for themselves. If we do that they will not only do their best in GCSEs and A levels, but they will take with them an understanding of their own learning which will help them beyond school. One of the great things about being a teacher at Christleton is that we are always working at ways to improve your learning.
We have set aside time on Wednesday afternoons so that we can work on this together when we are still fresh rather than trying to do this after teaching five periods as many schools do. This year a group of teachers have being meeting to study a new system to help you learn called Building Learning Power. As a teacher I find this a really exciting system because it is intended to make students take responsibility for their own experiences in school. The idea is to get each student to be able to understand what learning is at their own personal level. They should then be able to take a step back and look at what they are going through in the classroom. When things get a bit difficult we want you to realise why and know what to do about it. In Sociology and Psychology we have been trying out various ideas from Building Learning Power. We want students to be more questioning about the
sources they use. If students look critically at the way different books explain something they are likely to develop a deeper understanding and this means they will write better answers. We have done a lot of work to encourage students to think more carefully about what exam questions are asking them. Rather than just repeating what they have learnt if you go through the process of matching the demands of questions in the exam you are bound to do better. Another area I have sometimes noticed is that students sometimes decide that something is too difficult for them and they will never be able to do it. Building Learning Power encourages students to stick at things. It suggests that we can all develop our ability to do something even though we think we can’t. What BLP has taught me is that I can help people achieve things not by telling them the answer but by teaching them to think about what learning is. Although if you're really, really stuck we will always help you! Mr J Llewellyn
RESILIENCE
RESOURCEFUL REFLECTIVE
RECIPROCITY
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Building Learning Power
HOT
SCHOLARS
Hot Scholars unpack the meaning of the four R’s
On a Monday and a Tuesday lunchtime in early May Hot Scholars from a variety of different subjects met up to discuss Building Learning Power. The idea of the two meetings was to spend time together with other students to discuss the meaning of the four R’s or learning dispositions and the capacities. We spent time in small groups thinking about what each of the R’s was actually about, what it looks like when it works well and also when it does not work.
The photographs show Art Hot Scholars developing the models based on the four R’s.
We thought about what each capacity might look like so that we could give the Art Hot Scholars some ideas for the models they would make on the main points of learning power.
The 4 R's help develop the way you learn and can help in later life not just school as we learnt in the second meeting. During the Tuesday lunchtime people from the world of work came in to talk about how the 4 R's help in later life. They told us that they are key skills and no R is more important than another one.
The main points that we drew from the two meetings were: 1. Learning power is not just used in school.
2. All of the R's all link in together.
3. More awareness needs to be raised about Building Learning Power.
James Bagby 9L1
Top Tips for Learning... ‘The unexpected is powerful’ Mrs Pritchard
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So how can we develop the mind to learn? THE FOUR R’s OF LEARNING POWER Developing learning power means working on the following four aspects of students’ learning. The 4R’S are • RESILIENCE not giving up •
•
•
RESOURCEFULNESS being able to use a range of learning strategies and knowing what to do when you get stuck REFLECTIVENESS being able to think about yourself as a learner and how you might be able to do this better
RECIPROCITY being able to learn with and from others, as well as on your own.
The 4R’s are known as dispositions and they are made up of the following capacities. Learning in a BLP classroom allows students to give their brains a workout, focusing on the how and skills of learning not just the content.
RESILIENCE This is made up of Managing Distractions
Perseverance
Absorption Noticing
RESOURCEFULNESS This is made up of Questioning
Making Links Imagining
Reasoning
Capitalising
REFLECTIVENESS This is made up of
RECIPROCITY This is made up of
Revising
Imitation
Planning
Distilling Meta Learning
Collaboration
Empathy and Listening
Interdependence
What have I done to introduce BLP to my classroom? Mr D Evans
I started by introducing two aspects of Resilience to my Y9 Science set. The two aspects were ‘perseverance’ and ‘managing distractions’. After a short introduction students were asked to assess their own resilience and to identify something that they were going to try to do during the lesson to improve their resilience. Students are starting to notice the positive effect of BLP. One student commented that he is now more aware of what distracts him during lessons; he has come up with some strategies to minimise the effect of these distractions such as moving and working on his own or taking a two minute break outside the room. As a teacher BLP has changed the way that I try to manage the behaviour of students. Instead of me telling a student that he or she is behaving inappropriately I can ask them to use the agreed strategies to minimise distractions.
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How can you help to build learning power at home? Draw attention to, and model, positive learning habits
RESILIENCE
RESOURCEFULNESS
Talk about how you feel when you are taking on challenges.
Demonstrate making links between different ideas.
Demonstrate / model sticking at things even if they are difficult.
Praise your child when they persevere but also encourage them to take a break when they have had enough.
Encourage questions.
Don’t allow your child’s imagination to shrivel up!
Help them to find interests and activities that are really absorbing.
Encourage them to find ways of using resources such as reference books, dictionaries, the Internet.
REFLECTIVENESS
RECIPROCITY
Talk with them about what helps them to concentrate and manage distractions.
Encourage them to take responsibility for preparing for school.
Ask not what they did at school, but what they learned. Help them to think about, and plan, activities.
Encourage flexibility and the ability to change a plan of necessary.
Demonstrate / model being a good learner. Work, play and learn alongside your children, enabling them to pick up good habits through imitation. Encourage working together as a team.
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New Rugby Kit in Action for GCSE PE Moderation
The new Christleton High Rugby kit has been in action with both year 9 and 11 teams testing its durability
throughout the spring term. The year 11 team used it in their final match which was a GCSE PE moderation match
against Tarporley where 9 students from the school were being assessed as part of the final GCSE grade. The weather wasn't great but the players played exceptionally well and gained some very high grades. Tom Lacey, Jordan Efobi and Ben Walsh scored highly and the moderation was a great finish to a fantastic year of rugby and GCSE PE students. Mr Llewellyn was very impressed with the new kit and he is keen to watch one of the fixtures next year.
Unipart National Finals… a day to remember After a two hour drive to Coventry we arrived at the sports centre in time to warm up ahead of the competition. The competition was opened by introductions to the Ambassadors for badminton, a member of the current under 17 England squad Sam Parsons and Steve Butler, ex squad member and current England coach. The atmosphere was buzzing; all participants were invited to improve their skills by playing with and being coached by the aforementioned Ambassadors for the sport. The competition was the National Finals sponsored by UNIPART, all players had qualified earlier in the year at various competitions around the country. After a tough competition against all the competitors in my singles grid I won through to the final round. This was my hardest game, my
Mr Barton
opponent was fast around the court and had an array of shots form which to choose. I played my best badminton and kept my nerves in check long enough to ensure a win….there I was Year 7 Unipart National Finals Single champion. I just couldn’t believe it.
I went to be introduced to my doubles partner ahead of the doubles competition. Together we had the opportunity to receive a few minutes coaching from Steve Butler which helped us to gel quickly and work together. No one was more amazed than us when we managed to win the doubles competition. Two wins and two gold medals, what a great day which was topped off by a master class with Steve Bulter.
Tom Foster
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Athletics and West Cheshire AC Schools Track and Cup Final Another hugely successful year for the schools athletics teams this year. The season started on Wednesday 1st May with the West Cheshire Cup held at Cheshire Oaks track. The boys teams started of the season with an overall win with the girls teams coming 3rd. Again, returning to Cheshire Oaks track on Tuesday 14th May the athletes competed in the first round of the English schools cup. All athletes performed superbly well with the junior boys team dominating from the start to score more points than all other schools in Cheshire. Christy Mageean (Year 8) and Bradley Jackson (Year 9) did so well in their 300m races their scores
Year 8 Tennis – AEGON Championship
The Year 8 tennis team have been involved in the AEGON championships again this year. Cameron Bradley, Jamie Martin, Jack Goodall and Jasper McLaughlin have all made up the team and have played exceptionally well this year. The team have beaten The Kings School, Hartford High and The Grange quite convincingly. Jack Goodall and Jasper McLaughlin have played up a year and will also be involved in the competition next year, while Cameron and Jamie will represent the school in the Year 10 completion. Well done to all and thank you for your commitment. Mr Barton
were off the score chart. The junior boys team then qualified for the North-West A Final which was held in Blackpool on Wednesday 12th June. Our success at this event was on the track with the team being placed in 3rd position in the North-West of England half way through the day and finishing 7th overall. What a great achievement!
Tuesday 21st May was the Chester & District championships at Deeside track. This gave athletes a chance to compete for the school against other schools from Chester and also to try to be selected for the district team. Individual students who were picked to represent the district from this event were... Christy Mageean (Year 8 300m), Isobel Griffin Morris (year 8 discus), Jess Renner (Year 9 800m), Bradley Jackson (Year 9 300m), Sophie Clark (Year 9 javelin), Megan Russon (Year 10 1500m), Georgia Jones (Year 10 long jump), Robyn McNally (Year 10 high jump), Lydia Ward (Year 11 triple jump), Jordan Coxall (year 11 1500m), Dominika Saduczk (Year 9 shot putt), Matt Harland Jones (Year 10 triple jump), Mark Hearn (Year 11 800m), Scott Evans (Year 10 400m), Connor Rowbottom (Year 9 100m), George Campbell (year 8 200m), Lewis Inchley (year 9 High jump), Ashley Dawson (Year 9 high jump).The Year 8 boys team and the Year 9 girls team were crowned CHESTER & DISTRICT CHAMPIONS!
During school camp week, a group of very dedicated Year 7 athletes came to Deeside to compete in their Minors Chester & District Championships. Their journey was worthwhile with the Year 7 boys team dominating the events in both track and field to win the competition by 30 points. Without a full strength team (due to camp) the girls performed exceptionally well too to come 3rd. Winners on the day & now district champions are Phil Hopkins (100m), Jasper McLoughlin (200m & long jump), Jac Goodall (Javelin), Keane Harrison (shot putt), Boys 100m relay team. These students, along with Erin Stuart (100m), Grace Austin Lindsay (100m), Madison Sterling (long jump), Sophie Bridgewater (long jump), Max Freeman (hurdles) have now been selected to compete for Chester in the county championships on Wednesday 19th May at
Cumberland Stadium in Crewe.
On top of this success, two athletes have continued to Jess Dunning excel and competing in reach Shot putt exceptional performance levels, competing at a very high standard for both school and club. Christy Mageean Jess Renner (junior boys Year 9 800m 300m) has Girls Winner dominated this event (and others) throughout the season and has now been crowned county champion, competing against athletes a Phil Hopkins Year 7 year older 100m Champion than him. Cameron Clark (senior boys javelin) again has had an outstanding season for his club and for the 3rd time in a The Athletics Team row has become county champion. Both Christy and Cameron have achieved personal bests this season and are very close to achieving their English schools standards. Christy and Cameron, along with Sophie Clark (junior javelin) and Isobel Griffin Morris (junior discus) have represented Cheshire this season. With the athletics season still ongoing am sure there will be a lot more success to report!
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
A Phoenix is a mythical bird of great beauty that burns itself on a funeral pyre and rises from its ashes in the freshness of youth and lives through another cycle of years. The group that helped create our majestic Phoenix were in Years 7, 8 and 9 and all classed as talented in art. It took over three sessions with at least fifteen students in each session. Students also spent time creating the Phoenix during lunch times. It needed the skill of being able to work as a team with people from other year groups.
P h o en i x
HOT
SCHOLARS
Flight of the
First we started by making the basic framework of the body and wings out of a willow branches. Then we started to layer on a special, strong type of tissue paper while the rest of the group made the feathers. Once these jobs were finished we started to paint the body in reds, yellows and oranges making the bird look like it was on fire. After that, while the rest were busy painting, a group of three people got to work on making the farcical more realistic. With some extra help from some Hot Scholars (Ellie Kanwar, Ffion Jones and Briony Vickers) the Phoenix was complete! By Hannah Jones and Sophie Runciman, Art Hot Scholars
Summer Term 2013
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Sketchbook
Competition Winners &
Year 7 Art
competition
Art’s spring sketchbook competition took place before the Easter holidays. Every student in Key Stage 3 is entered in this competition which means that winners and runners up are judged and chosen out of over 600 students! There were 30 runners up and 18 winners. This spring sketchbook competition winners were as follows;
Congratulations to all of the winners and runners up!
1st
2nd 3rd
Year 7
Year 8
Elizabeth Glading
Matthew McDonnell
Girls
Carly Herbert Hania Arthur
Boys
Joe Ritson
Arin Theard
Year 8 Art Hot Scholars gave Year 7 students a great opportunity this term! A competition was set up to allow budding Artists in Year 7 to show off their talents. The lucky winner was Sophie Neugebauer 7Ke2. Well done Sophie!
Girls
Anna Thompson Alex Joinson Jessica Dunning
Year 9
Boys
Aaron Bird
Joseph Baldacchino Harry Ford
Year 10 Team Maths Challenge
Girls
Isobel Bowman Jessica Renner Lucy Hosker
Boys
James Leyland Finlay Wojtan Jacob Davies
Alice Russell, Meredydd Jones, Tess Corr and Kieran Trevor represented the school in the Year 10 Maths Challenge at UCEA in Ellesmere Port. We were one of 18 teams and there were 5 different rounds in the competition which involved individual and team challenges. We were successful in the Cheshire round and came first. Then we went to Manchester University to take part in the North West heat. Alice Russell and Meredydd Jones
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
YEAR 7 NETBALL CHAMPS!
As a reward for becoming District and County Netball Champions, Year 7 were treated to a trip to watch a top class game of netball, Manchester Thunder v Northumbria. It was a great opportunity for the girls to pick up some tips and actually meet and talk to some of the top players in the country. The girls got a chance at half time to test out their skills in a throwing and catching competition and in front of a
huge enthusiastic netball crowd Christleton girls came up trumps with Alex Gore Rees being the final winner and taking home a great prize.
A huge thank you must go to Jo Edwards of Parkers mini buses who provided the transport and tickets for the event. Everyone had a brilliant time and are now looking forward to the tour to Condover Hall in September and building on this season’s success.
Fulham Football Tour
On Friday 8th March 2013, 30 students from years 10, 11 and 6th form embarked on a weekend football tour to London with Mr Barton, Mr Alford and Mr Axon.
The tour was a huge success and included:
• Staying at the beautiful Chessington Hotel that overlooks the Chessington Safari Park • Watching Fulham v Queens Park Rangers
Mrs Leedham
• Playing a match • Going to Fulham FC Academy and receiving a 2 hour training session from their Academy Coaches in the outstanding indoor facility.
This was a packed itinerary and the students’ behaviour was outstanding. It was a great experience for all involved and we will definitely be looking to replicate a similar tour during the next academic year!
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16th Best Fencer in all of Britain... Summer Term 2013
Fencing is an increasingly popular sport today. There are the weapons used in Fencing, the Foil, Sabre, and EpÊe. Fencing in Chester is thriving mainly due to the Chester’s main coach, Valerijs Scipanovs. The biggest event for young fencers is the British Youth Championships (BYCs) which I entered on the 5th of May this year.
To enter the BYCs, you must first achieve 3rd or higher in the regional qualifiers. Four from each region qualify (there are two 3rd places). A few other high achievers from past BYCs immediately qualify. I came second in the qualifiers.
The competition starts with one round of pools, where everyone is mixed up randomly to form groups of 56 of whom they fence against. Two people cannot be in the same pool if they are from the same region. I finished my pool only losing one fight with a score of 5-3. I still got ranked 18th because of my performance. After the pools, there are the DEs (Direct Eliminations). A DE is a match between two fencers up to 15 points. The winner stays in the competition, the loser goes home. Your ranking from your pool really matters here, as the better you did in the pools, the easier your opponent in the DEs.
Because of my performance, I skipped the 1st round of DEs. I beat my first opponent with a score of 15-10. That put me through to the last 32 fencers. I beat my next opponent, who was ranked 15th in the pools, with a score of 15-13. I was finally knocked out against the fencer who finished second overall. I am now ranked as the 16th best fencer in all of Britain. The photographs here were from the English Youth Championships in Hatfield that took place in June. I was ranked 14th in the competition for the U15 age group. There were 84 entrants in the competition. Ashley Dawson 10L3
A day in the Lakes
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
On the 26th April a select few from year 7 set 1 baby and lake, went up to the Lake District to Dove Cottage, famously William Wordsworth’s house. For the first activity we were given some pictures based on Wordsworth’s poem and we were told to come up with a story with just the pictures that were shown. There were some bizarre stories! After that, we went to a fascinating museum where I learnt so many things. Then we went to Dove Cottage, the actual home of William Wordsworth, it was very interesting to see how and where he lived. These were all enjoyable but the best part of the trip was the walk that we all went on, it was both enjoyable and captivating to see the landscape that inspired him to write so many famous poems. Amy Harrowsmith
The Wordsworth trip was amazing and I learn a great deal from the trip, like William Wordsworth described imagination as the inner eye and that he used to ice skate on the lakes of the Lkae District. I enjoyed the tour around his second house, Dove Cottage, and finding out facts such as William Wordsworth and his family had roughly five to eight people staying in the house at any one time. Thanks-a-bunch for the trip! Yannick Wojtan Year 7 Wordsworth trip was really good. I enjoyed going to the Lake District because it was a beautiful place, I can now see why Wordsworth cherished his life there writing poetry. Wordsworth’s poetry is not only touching but full of enchanting history. Dove Cottage was very
Summer Term 2013
interesting and I learnt a lot about who he was and his everyday life. Annonymous
On Friday 26th of April, me and some of my classmates went on a Wordsworth trip to Dove Cottage. It was a great and very educational day. We learnt about William Wordsworth’s best years of poetry, it was amazing and definitely worth the long journey! We had a good time and would, without a doubt, love to do it again. An unimaginable trip and one of the best trips I have ever been on. Callum Wells “An amazing trip!” Molly Ellis
“I would definitely go again!” Josef Holly Wood “It was great” Arin Theard
I liked the William Wordsworth trip because we visited the cottage where he lived and the views were AMAZING! We learnt a lot of facts about his that I never knew before including these: Almost all of his ideas came from his Sister’s diary. I really enjoyed it and would recommend you go and visit too! Charlie James
We set off from school at around 9am and took about two and a half hours to get to the Lake District, which is where Dove Cottage is. When we got there, we met our guides and settled down to have our lunch. After we had eaten our lunch, we had a tour around the cottage that Wordsworth lived in and the museum. It was here we learnt about what his life was like. Finally, we went on a short walk around the countryside where we learnt how nature influenced Wordsworth’s work. I really enjoyed the whole trip! Joe Williams
The Wordsworth trip was amazing and very inspiring. When I was chosen to go I was really happy. Dove Cottage was amazing however; I wouldn’t be able to live there. The rooms were all quite low and the house was so cold! I really enjoyed finding out about William Wordsworth and I would go again any day! Curie-Beth Woodard-Lord Ellie Osborne
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“Can You tell Me More About What You Do...?”
Advance Notice: Careers Information Evening:
Wednesday 20th November 2013
• Following on from a really successful event last year, we are now planning our Careers Information
Evening for 2013.
• We hope to have representatives from a wide range of different occupations on hand to give individual advice and an insight into what their job involves.
• The evening will be a great opportunity for students from Years 9, 10, 11, and both lower and upper
sixth-formers, together with interested parents, to find out more about the future world of work.
• The event is a part of our on-going commitment to
raising students’ aspirations and encouraging them to
think about future pathways; the evening aims to
inspire students to find out more about the career
paths available and to meet people from a variety of different occupations.
• Please make a note of the date in your diaries. If you are able to come along as a representative for a
particular business, company or occupation, please contact Karen Varley by email:
varleyk@christletonhigh.co.uk
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
Our DofE Experience
Our Bronze Duke of Edinburgh experience was tiring and hard work, but we had lots of fun at the same time! Our team was very glad of the practice walks because we weren’t very confident at map reading, and we even managed to get lost around the fields in Waverton. We had to go to various meetings to prepare for the final expedition, but it was worth it because we knew what to do when we did our real test. The weather on the day was brilliant because the sun was shining. We encountered our first real problem about an hour into the walk, because one of our team members, Sophie, unexpectedly became ill and had to go home. That set us back a bit because we had to make a few changes, but we carried on without much trouble. Our aim of the walk was to do with litter, so we picked up any litter that we saw and took photos of ourselves doing this. When we reached the campsite, we set up our tent, cooked some pasta for our tea, and settled down to sleep. The next day we were woken bright and early, and we set off by 9.00am! We were very determined to finish as fast as possible, so we walked fast with barely any breaks and read our maps efficiently. I have definitely improved on my map reading skills since the practice walk, and we didn’t get lost at all. There was a great sense of achievement when we finished, especially as we reached school second and we were over an hour early! Olivia said: “Going on the walk was an amazing experience! We
learnt how to work in a group and how to put up a tent. I enjoyed the d of e walk because I got to spend time with my friends and it will look great on my CV.”
Charli thoughts on DofE: “I decided to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award this year because I fancied a challenge. I had never done anything like it before so thought I would give it try. If I'm honest I had no idea what it was all about but from doing it I have learnt so many new skills that will help me in the future, for example, on the expedition it was essential that I was able to read a map effectively, before DofE I had never done anything like this so didn't know what I was doing but I can now read a map easily and that's because of the DofE course. I recommend doing Duke of Edinburgh because it has made me much stronger in terms of determination and stamina. It has benefitted me in many ways and was tonnes of fun to be a part of.”
Serena: “Going on DofE was a life changing experience because it helped me to try out new skills, such as to work better in groups. I think I learnt a lot of useful things that I can use in later life. I would definitely recommend DofE because it is a great challenge and lots of fun to be with my friends. It's one of the best achievements of my life, and I am planning to continue and do the Silver Award!” Jess, Olivia, Charli, Serena and Sophie (Team 6)
Summer Term 2013
Emma’s Book is a Real PageTurner!
Exciting Science
Make Your Own Fake Snot
As disgusting as it might sound to some people, let's make some fake snot! Snot actually serves an important purpose in our body so this experiment is not all about grossing out our friends, although that's certainly part of the fun. What you'll need: • Boiling water (be careful with this) • A cup • Gelatin • Corn syrup • A teaspoon • A fork
Instructions: 1. Fill half a cup with boiling water. 2. Add three teaspoons of gelatin to the boiling water. 3. Let it soften before stirring with a fork. 4. Add a quarter of a cup of corn syrup. 5. Stir the mixture again with your fork and look at the long strands of gunk that have formed. 6. As the mixture cools slowly add more water, small amounts at a time.
What's happening? Mucus is made mostly of sugars and protein. Although different than the ones found in the real thing, this is exactly what you used to make your fake snot. The long, fine strings you could see inside your fake snot when you moved it around are protein strands. These protein strands make snot sticky and capable of stretching.
Creative Graphic Design • Print • Web Design • Promotions
Cheshire’s Creative Social Enterprise Part of the Winsford based charity The NeuroMuscular Centre, all profits go towards supporting our vital work.
Contact Alison Evans 01606 863464 alison.evans@nmcentre.com nmcentre.com
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Former student has first novel published We are always delighted to hear from our former students about what pathway they have been following since leaving Christleton. Here is what Emma Page has been up to over the last four years: -
“My favourite subjects at school were always English, Art, Geography and Environmental Science. They were the ones I took with me the most after I left in 2009. I did a month’s work experience on Chester Zoo’s Rhino Team, not just with the rhinos, but also with zebras, meerkats, and gemsbok, to name only a few. I then began my degree in Animal Behaviour at the University of Chester. While I was there, I also worked with animals at Reaseheath College and the RSPCA, and spent an amazing summer on Hilbre Island researching grey seal behaviour for my dissertation.
I eventually graduated last November with a BSc (Hons), and I’ve returned to the university so I can study my masters in Wildlife Conservation. My Geography and Environmental Science from Christleton helped me greatly, and there was never a moment of regret in choosing my
courses. I’ve also been involved in representing the university throughout my BSc, being a Student Academic Rep, and Undergraduate Rep to the Applied Sciences Board of Studies. All that really began in Christleton, where I was a Form Rep for five years, and part of the Eco-Schools Team when it first started.
Last year, I was also lucky enough to become a published author. While I was at school, I was always writing fantasy stories, and I was eventually accepted by Staccato in Minnesota, America. My first book, “Blindsighted Wanderer”, was released last year under my pen-name E.C. Hibbs, and I donated a copy to the school’s new i- research centre as a thank you for all the help and support. In fact, when I was researching for the story, I even found myself returning to History and Geography notes I took in school! With a degree in Science, there are a lot of different careers I can follow. After I finish my MSc, I’m hoping to either become a teacher, or work in Marine Conservation. I have a new book due out this year too, and I’ll keep up my writing in the future. Being able to achieve so much is an amazing feeling, and I wouldn’t change anything for the world.” Emma Page (Former Christleton student: 2002-2009)
Chateau Beaumont Trip 70
The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
At 23:00 on Sunday 2nd of June the first few members, one of which was me, gathered outside school in preparation for our great journey to Normandy. By Midnight most people were there, waiting patiently for the coach to arrive and for the great voyage to begin. The overall journey took over twelve hours, in which time we all had to find our own sources of entertainment. In the first hours of the journey many of us slept, as it was still the early hours of the morning. By the tunnel, more of us were awake, and the excitement was building. When we finally arrived at Chateau Beaumont, at around 17:30, we were all exhausted. We were designated our rooms, and then sent to unpack, before attending dinner at 18:30. This was the time of dinner every night, as we soon learnt, and afterwards, at 20:30, we would have an evening activity. This
activity changed each night, and afterwards we would have free time until about 22:30, when it was ‘lights-out’. Our dorm was Bordeaux, and it was away from the rest. Most of the dorms were in the ‘L-block’ and outside those dorms was a basketball court which was used most evenings. A bit further away from the L-block were the boy’s dorms, hall and tuck shop. The hall was where the evening activity took place each night.
Breakfast was at 8:30 on most days, bar one where it was at 7:45, and our dorm set alarm every morning so we could be well prepared. However, one morning we set it a bit too early, as we discovered it would have been equivalent to 5:00 a.m. English time, and every time the alarm went off we, accidently, woke up Madame Cruise, who’s dorm joined onto ours.
Tuesday was the first full day we had in France. We visited a town market, before a supermarket and shopping centre. Mike and Louise, two members of staff from the Chateau, were our guides for the week, along with more members of staff on the activities in the grounds of the Chateau. The market and the supermarket were both full of opportunities for us to practise our French. Each day we were given various work sheets to complete. The answers were then checked when we returned to the coach. We then stopped in a park for our lunch, where a statue of the lady Mary looked over us, high on a hill. After these visits we had three activities in our groups. Our group did Climbing, Aero-ball and Night Line on Tuesday before dinner.
Wednesday welcomed our visit to Mont Saint Michel, where we were allowed to explore the town and buy souvenirs. This day was the longest, and after our visit to Mont Saint Michel, we went to St Malo, where we browsed shops in the town before venturing to the beach. The weather was great throughout the week, which kept the mood generally happy. Wednesday night’s evening activity was French night. This was where we dressed up to fit a French theme and then participated in a quiz about France. Lucy Osborne and I dressed as the Moulin Rouge, and soon after regretted it due to embarrassment. After the quiz we then had to do a catwalk, which made the embarrassment worse, before certain people collected awards for their outfits. It was an early night for our dorm after that. Thursday was my favourite day. We visited Roland Réauté, a French chocolate factory, where there was a variety of chocolate, and I don’t think anyone left without something. We then went to an animal sanctuary, were we saw many birds, goats, llamas - one of which had a rather off-putting expression, as anyone who went to France shall
Summer Term 2013
know - and many more creatures. We then ate our lunch outside the café before returning to the Chateau to do some more activities. This time our group did Archery, Zip wire (my personal favourite activity) and an initiative test. After dinner, where we tried snails and frogs legs and Nathan beat the record for most Snails eaten – there was a talent competition. Everyone who performed was very brave, but the performance we shall all remember is the teachers singing and dancing to Dangerous Chihuahuas. The evening was then finished off with a disco, putting the perfect finish on the week.
était bonne, avec une performance de chihuahua dangereux par les enseignants! Nous avons même mangé des escargots et des cuisses de grenouilles! Nathan Houlbrook a mangé 15 escargots!
Globalement, le voyage a été fantastique! J'ai aimé le marché le meilleur à cause de la grande
Friday sent us back to the UK with happy memories that won’t be soon forgotten. Thank you all the Christleton staff who came with us on the trip, it was very enjoyable! French trip swan article. La semaine denière je suis allée en France avec mon collège. Nous
avons voyagé en autocar, et nous sommes finalement arrivés à Château Beaumont á seize heures. Après le dîner, nous avons fait une chasse au trésor, c'était super! Mardi, nous sommes allés au marché, les fruits étaient très délicieux surtout les fraises. Aussi, nous sommes allés à l’ hyper marché, qui était très grand! Le soir, nous avions trois activités. Mon groupe avons fait de l'aeroball, la ligne de nuit et de l'escalade. Pendant la semaine, nous sommes allés à beaucoup d'endroits, telles que-Mont St Michel, chocolaterie, le centre des animaux et la plage! Nous avons fait trois autres activités, tir à l'arc, d'initiative et une tyrolienne! Aussi, L'animation
variété de la nourriture locale! J'espère que mes amis et moi y allons encore une fois bientôt car était la meilleur semaine qu'on ait jamais vu! :) By Amy Russon
Izzy Griffin-Morris
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
Year 8 trip to Normandy!
Here’s what the kids thought...
I really enjoyed the French trip because of the fun activities and visiting places! C’était super! George
Bonjour, the French trip was great fun. We went to many places including the chocolate factory, the markets and many more.
My favourite was the animal refuge. There were loads of animals, sheep, tigers, loads of birds and many more. It was great fun especially when we got chased by geese! Afterwards we had ice cream and coke. I really enjoyed the French trip it was great fun I would really recommend that you go as it was great fun. Joe I really really enjoyed the trip it has been the best experience. I loved everything about it and I would love to do it again. The people who worked there we very friendly and everyone loved them. We went to a lot of places which were amazing; we went to a refuge, chocolate factory, Mont St Michel, a beach, a town, market and a supermarket. The worst thing was the journey I think I was too long and too hot. Elizabeth Evans
Lorsque nous avons visité la France avec Christleton High, nous nous sommes bien amusés. Il faisait chaud et il y avait du soleil. Nous avons préféré Mont St Michel parce que c'était intéressant. Le voyage en France était fatiguant mais ça valait la peine. Aussi nous sommes allés à la plage et les magasins. Nous avons passé un moment formidable en France. Emma Newnham and Ellie Kanwar
J'ai adoré le voyage en France, c'était incroyable:-) nous avons gagné beaucoup de confiance! Nous avons visité le marché français traditionnel et le hypermarché et la plage à Saint Malo. Aussi nous avons visité la fabrique de chocolats et un abri de secours des animaux. C'était très bon et le temps était magnifique; c'était très chaud. L'année prochaine de toute l'année 8, c'est incroyable. Charlotte Hampton
I loved the French trip because we did lots of different activities and visited places we probably wouldn't have visited. J'adore la plage. Il faisait très chaud. Joe Shaw
Bonjour! La semaine dernière, Je suis allé en France. À minuit le dimanche nous avons quitté l'école. Nous sommes arrivés au Château Beaumont à quatre heures de l'après-midi. Nous avons eu beaucoup de temps libre. Cette soir nous avons mangé spaghetti bolognaise, il était vraiment délicieux. Puis nous avons eu une chasse au trésor. Il a été très excitant. Le lendemain nous avons mangé le petit déjeuner et ensuite visité le marché et le supermarché. Il faisait très chaud. Nous avons fait du travail en français et un peu de shopping! Nous sommes retournés au château et avons fait trois activités. J’ai fait l’escalade, le parcours de nuit et aeroball. J’ai apprécié ce jourbeaucoup. Emily- Rose Forden
The French trip to France was great we did so much good stuff. I learned something new every day. We visited so many amazing places and had so much fun too. The places we visited helped us learn more than we usually would as the places were very French for a place with so many tourists. J’ai adoré le voyage Français en Normandie. Nous avons visité beaucoup et avons passé un bon moment. Les activités étaient magnifiques et m’ont aidé avec mon français. Eddie Jones
I really enjoyed the French trip to Normandy because we got to see Mont saint Michel and do loads of fun activities with our friends. We also all got to pick our own dorms and try snails and frogs legs it was great when Nathan ate fifteen and broke the previous record! The food was great and I thoroughly enjoyed the trip!
I recently travelled to France with the languages department and I loved it. I used a lot of French words and phrases including "je voudrais" which means I would like and I also used "merci" which means thank you. We travelled to many different destinations including saint Malo and the beach. We talked to the shop keepers and the locals in French which was a nice experience. Nathan Houlbrook
This is my report from France: When I went to Normandy with the school it was so fun! We did loads of different activities like zipwire, archery and climbing wall, and we visited lots of different places like the beach and Mont St Michael. My favourite day was Thursday. In the morning we went to the chocolate factory where we bought loads of chocolate and sweets and we also went to the animal refuge, which was where we saw loads of rescued animals, my favourite animal was the racoon. In the afternoon we came back to the chateau and we did activities in our groups, my group did archery (which I was rubbish at), zipwire, and initiative exercises, which was where we had to solve problems using our initiative. In the evening we had a talent show which was really good, and the teachers even sang 'dangerous chiauaua', which was really funny! After that we had a disco, and that's it! I would really like to go back to France with the school, if I had the opportunity again I would definitely say yes! Esther Hughes
Summer Term 2013
We are really excited about welcoming our incoming Year 7 students in September having met them on several occasions over the last few weeks. Our programme of transition events includes primary school visits, transition project days, Maths and English intervention sessions, and a Summer School for students that we feel would particularly benefit.
Year 6 Transition Events Lucy Osborne, Josh Johnson and Mrs Lister meet our future Year 7 students from Mickle Trafford Village School
Our Transition Project Days involved around 200 students from nineteen different primary schools working with some of our students in Year 10 and 12 to create their own e-book brochures about the school. We were delighted to welcome students from the following primaries: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Christleton Overleigh St Marys Tarvin Waverton Oldfield Saighton Boughton Heath Barrow Helsby Hillside Upton Heath Elton Doddleston Dee Point Hoole Mickle Trafford Huntington Cherry Grove Abbey Gate Tattenhall
Our Primary School Visits involved some of our Year 7 students talking to those in Year 6 about the transition process. Here’s what they thought of the experience: -
“In June we went to Boughton Heath Primary School and spoke to the up-coming Year 7 about starting Christleton High and being in Year 7. We were asked to explain to the Year 6s about the first year in high school, and how it might seem be scary but is really fun. We discussed Year 7 camp; this they seemed very interested in. They also wanted know about sport and music. We think they enjoyed the whole gathering and asked us a lot of questions.” Maciek Cumberford and Maddy Clerkin 8By1
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Maciek Cumberford and Maddy Clerkin give the thumbs up to incoming Year 7 students from Boughton Heath Primary School
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
Enrichment Week:
Pathway Days Our Enrichment Week this year gave students in Years 8, 9, and 10 the chance to take part in a wide range of activities and events to get them thinking about future opportunities.
Year 10 students experienced being a ‘Sixth Former For A Day’ and attended a range of taster sessions in subjects new to them, such as Economics, Psychology, Sociology, and Travel & Tourism. A ‘Pathway Research Day’ was also on offer, with students opting for one of seven broad employment areas as follows: -
1. Building and Construction – architecture, joiner, bricklayer, surveyor, civil engineer
2. Health and Social Care – doctor, nurse, midwife, social worker, psychologist
3. Design and performing arts – fine artist, graphic designer, photographer, actor, dancer
4. Security and Law – barrister, solicitor, fire fighter, army officer, police officer
5. Sports and Tourism – footballer, sports development officer, fitness instructor, travel agent 6. Business and Finance – manager, accountant, banker, stock broker, personal assistant
7. Media – journalist, broadcaster, advertising, film making, publishing
During the day students worked in their ‘employment groups’ to research the opportunities in selected areas and were able to hear from a range of professionals who kindly spoke with students and answered questions.
Students in Years 8 and 9 took part in a wide range of visits including Chester University, West Cheshire College, Glyndwr University & Techniquest, Reaseheath College, Fiddlers Ferry Power Station, and the University of Leeds. Here’s what two of our students thought: -
Last year in activities week, I went to Techniquest and Fiddlers Ferry but this year I chose different options; Leeds University and Reaseheath College.
On the Thursday was the Leeds trip. It was the first time that a trip to Leeds has been offered and I think that it was well worth going to. We took a coach trip there, chatting and listening to music, before having a group photo when we arrived, in front of one of the University’s huge libraries. We were found on the steps by a few student guides and were taken to a huge room, where we had a presentation about what the University had to offer and the day’s activities. We were shown around in an enjoyable way and had a look at numerous art sculptures, old and new buildings and being told all sorts about the Uni. Did you know its bad luck enter some
buildings if you haven’t graduated?! There were loads, and loads, of rooms! We were shown to three huge libraries, before we were shown to student accommodation. After that, lunch time! We asked questions and were answered well every time. Universities have everything you could need! We then went to some revision exercises and we were shown different ways of learning and how to make passing exams easier with different revision techniques. Finally before we went, we had another brief presentation and filled in a review form. We took the coach back home and got back in time for the buses .It was a great day and I found that this really helped me think of my future. Also, I think that the tips given for revision will also come in quite handy.
Summer Term 2013
On the Friday, we went to Reaseheath; a agriculture and engineering college. We had a short coach journey there and then went to a lecture theatre to be told where to go. We were each handed a special visitors tag to wear throughout the day. We were split into groups and had a tour of the premises and looked around inside almost every part of the college. My group went to the horse’s area first and we went around the stables. After that, we went into the animal’s area and we walked through a zoo like area. We saw fish, tortoises, lizards, porcupines and other animals inside before going outside to see wallabies, meer cats, birds, tortoises and some others. After this, we looked at the engineering department. They had welding stations and cars being taken apart in classes. They had tractors and engines being build all inside different buildings.
Back in school we worked on a Pathways website called UExplore where we created out accounts and went through the website identifying lots of different jobs and qualifications needed for them. James Leyland 10B2
On the Thursday of Enrichment Week a group of Year 9 students embarked on a two hour coach journey to the city of Leeds, to visit the famous University of Leeds. Although the trip there was long and arduous, and the heat on the coach was sweltering, Mr Francis and the other teachers on board the coach kept the class entertained with their witty jokes on the PA system… Well, they tried at least! Once we had arrived in Leeds, we were escorted by a four wonderful tour guides into the main building. Here, we were given a talk about prospects at
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Year 6 Primary Maths Day – June 7th Leeds University by one of the Senior Lecturers at the University. We found out about a whole host of different courses which we didn’t know existed! Also we got told all about the option of studying abroad for a year, which I am sure made an impression on the group of us there and made us want to study abroad. Here’s what Mark Harvey in 9Ba2 had to say about it:
“Learning about studying abroad, has really opened my eyes to the wide array of things you can do at university. It’s made me really think about the option of going somewhere hot and sunny, like Spain, to study English Literature for a year!”
Primary day was attended by 90 year 6 students from Christleton, Oldfield and Saighton primary schools. With the help of the Maths Hot Scholars the students participated in activities such as stitching curves from straight lines, a treasure hunt and solving outdoor maths problems: the Towers of Hanoi and Bridges of Konigsberg.
After this talk, we got shown around the university by four undergraduate students. On this tour of the campus we got shown all the different parts of the university, including its very impressive Olympic standard swimming oool. We also got shown the different types of accommodation which you can choose to stay in; it was such a fun and insightful tour!
To end our time at Leeds, we found out about our preferred learning style; thanks to this I now know I am a kinaesthetic learner, and an auditory learner. Everyone found this really enjoyable, and learnt a lot about how they can revise, and help themselves learn better.
Overall the day was amazing, and I can safely say everyone who went would love to go again! Katie Barker 9B4
The day concluded with an inter-school maths relay competition. Everyone had a brilliant day and we look forward to meeting our new students again in September.
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
Grasping the Russian Culture
Russia, the Homeland, the birthplace of Lenin, Stalin and Peter the Great. Our motto for the trip was leave no man behind, but upon arrival in Moscow airport we had already left Harry Jamieson in Manchester departures lounge, being gently soothed by an anonymous pensioner. The journey to Russia was tiring to say the least, yet we still made several interesting new friends including an avid reader of farmers weekly and a t-shirt wearing мудак (Mudak). The Hotel Cocmoc, our residence in Moscow for the next two nights, greeted us with a delightful box of picnic items
such as cheese and…rolls. The hotel itself was a Soviets dream, a concrete slab containing several luxurious restaurants and a funky nightclub. Our first experience of Russia’s capital was horrendously cold, visiting the numerous bleak attractions Moscow has to offer, such as overlooking the site of Moscow 1980 Olympics and St Basil’s cathedral. The tour guide was everything you could expect and more, bearded, named Serg and had an iconic hate for McDonalds. During our time in the Capital we saw all the magnificent sites such as the Kremlin, Red Square and the famous GUM store, an expanse of photo opportunities. With a trip to the local shopping mall it was a surprise to see past the cold, stern stereotypical view of Russian culture and see that they too love the same cheap, tacky shops as us. We also had the chance to try the Russian food, an array of unnameable meats and steamed veg with everything pretty much tasting the same, of lard. It wasn’t all doom and gloom though; we visited the Great Patriotic War museum dedicated to the many countless Soviet lives lost in the Second World War, a huge building of calm and solitude, one of our most unique experiences in Moscow. The Arbat was also a unique area of Moscow, a large street filled to the brim with tourist shops selling a multitude of snow globes and ‘I heart MOSCOW’ tshirts, feeling more like an eighties Benidorm than the exSoviet centre of the world. After two days in the hustle of Moscow
we boarded the overnight sleeper train for St Petersburg, waving goodbye to Serg before crawling into luxury beds in our expansive cabins. This image couldn’t have been anywhere further from reality, we found ourselves in tiny cramped ‘cabins’, sleeping on basically boards of wood with little space for movement.
We arrived in St Petersburg early the next morning, half crippled from the night on the train and absolutely shattered. Greeted by Anna a lovely welcoming lady, also our tour guide for our time in the cultural capital of Russia. Immediately the differences between St Petersburg and Moscow were apparent, St Petersburg was a lot more historical, cleaner and generally nicer in most aspects. A tour around the city by coach acquainted us with all the sites including The Winter Palace, several grand orthodox churches and The Cruiser Aurora. Everyone of the sites and buildings in St Petersburg were extremely luxurious and fairly majestic hence why it was previously the home to the Russian Royal family and the majority of the aristocracy. Having a bit of spare time to explore the Nevsky Prospect, the main shopping centre of the city, although spending most of the time searching for a McDonalds we also discovered that the Russian people prefer to keep themselves to themselves and a friendly hello was met with a blank face.
Summer Term 2013
a brass, gun shaped pencil sharpener through security. After being taken into a suspicious room and thoroughly searched for at least half an hour, even James will admit it wasn’t the best idea.
The Hotel in St Petersburg was a lot more modern than Moscow featuring an indoor water park yet equal amounts of gift shops selling badly made Russian Dolls and Fur Hats. Yet this Hotel saw a lot less of the Russian Mafia and Prostitutes we had previously seen. On our second day in St Petersburg we were given the chance to visit the Hermitage, the world’s largest museum packed with countless art exhibitions and abundant gold plated objects. To view every exhibition in the Hermitage it would take over a week, yet we were finished in about an hour and a quarter, bogged down with oil paintings and Greek sculptures. The Peter and Paul Fortress was our next stop, a mighty symbol of Russian power built by Peter the Great, but also home of many prisoners over the revolution and Stalin’s reign. Prisoners were forced to remain in tiny, cold cells, with no access to the outside world and terrible living conditions. Our final night in Russia consisted of a trip to a traditional folklore show, presented with the greatest song and dance the country has to offer. A variety of Belarusian dances and far eastern comedy, all set in a grand aristocratic ball room. Everyone was thrilled to watch a display featuring two small puppets wrestling and falling into the crowd, Russia’s got talent must be ecstatic. The journey home went smoothly for most. The exception being James Lister who much to the delight of the Russian authorities tried to take
So ended our visit to the Soviet homeland, everyone will agree it was a unique and a valuable experience, visiting the many sites and grasping the Russian culture.
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Year 7Inter-School performance poetry competition
After a successful inter-form
performance poetry competition held earlier in the year, our 3 strongest performers; Aaron
Theard, Robin Fowles and Osian
Williams took part in the Cheshire inter-schools
Performance poetry competition on 12th June 2013.
The competition, which took
place at Chester University, was judged by Dr Francesca Haig,
course leader for creative
writing and a published poet herself!
In round 1, students were
asked to perform the poem that
had got them to the final. There then followed round 2 when the
top 5 students performed the
poem “The Sound Collector” by Roger McGough, having only
had 15 minutes to prepare it. The standard of the
performances was extremely
high, with parents and family
impressed at the skills shown
by the competitors. Despite this
high standard, however, all 3 of
our competitors made it through to the final 5!
After constructive feedback from Dr Haig, the top 3
performers were announced,
with Robin and Aaron making it into 2nd and 3rd place.
Overall, the evening was a real
success for all the competitors.
But special thanks goes to
Robin, Aaron and Osian for
making the English department so proud!!!
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
Students
on the
Slopes Ski Trip 2013 Passo Tonale
The school ski trip was a huge success this year. 40 students attended the trip from all age groups within the school. As we arrived in resort the snow was falling and all students were excited about getting on the slopes the next day. As we entered the hotel we were greeted with a warm and friendly reception from the hotel staff at the Negratella and from this point on, we realised it was definitely going to be a trip to remember.
The first morning saw an early rise by all, we had to eat breakfast, collect our equipment and head to the slopes all by 9am. Once the students had their skis and met their tutors, it was all systems go. There was a warm up session at first, where the instructors could watch each individual and then place them in ability groups. Before we had even started this activity we had one student, who shall remain nameless, who decided it is was more interesting to join another school group but didn't realise this until they were all speaking another language! :-)
Looking back at the trip as a whole, there were so many entertaining events that took place with so many wonderful characters, it only seems sensible to highlight some of them. Tom Lacey in Year 11 was absolutely fantastic, at one pointing I think he spent most of the time on the floor rather than skiing and the comments made by his instructor
Summer Term 2013 will haunt me forever "get up Tom" or "why is Tom on floor again" in an Italian accent. Freddie Hughes was like a Daredevil for his 'I don't need to stop or brake' style of skiing. Jack Bailey was like a young Eddie the Eagle on Skis and Maria England should be taking part in the next Winter Olympics for her superb ability.
Poor Ben Newnham couldn't remember what hotel we were staying in and walked straight past it and must have thought to himself 'where is everyone going?’ Robyn McNally showed everyone how to look good on the slopes with her exceptional clothing range and skiing prowess. Joe Walters thought he could fly and then realised he couldn't and landed in a heap on the floor. Ben Gregory flew down the slopes at night skiing and most people thought he would end up in Switzerland as he was going so fast, which in fact was a real credit to him as he picked the sport up very quickly. Mr Axon and Mr Stenhouse were once again on call all week due to their black diamond commitments, but we won't talk about that!
During the evenings students had time to relax, attend a pizza night, tried their skills at night skiing, attended a disco, entered a quiz and enjoyed Passo Tonale's version of 'Take Me Out' only Vanessa from Gavin and Stacy was the host, strange! Connor Reynolds transformed himself into Shirley from Eastenders and Ben Newnham was the lucky who got himself a date. Mr Barton also transformed himself and was the pick of the bunch, so much so that Mr Stenhouse couldn't resists.
Thanks to all staff who gave up their Easter break in order to allow the trip to run and most importantly well done to every student who attended as you represented the school with superb behaviour and effort. Many of the general public at the airport and on the plan commented at how respectful the students at Christleton High were and a real credit to the school. Finally, with so much interest once again, the school ski trip will be running at Easter 2014, once again at Passo Tonale. G Barton
Top Tips for Learning...
‘Be organised and ask for help if needed’ Miss Bevan
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Our Trip to Barcelona!
The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
Arrival -
The Year 8 and 9 football teams were both ready to board the plane to Barcelona from Liverpool airport, after saying their goodbyes and spending all of their remaining English pounds in various shops in customs. There was a feeling of excitement when the teams walked onto the plane, a massive roar went up when the plane began accelerating down the runway! After arriving at the hotel everyone was tired, so we went to our rooms, on a full stomach from the tea at the hotel.
1st Day -
On the first day we had a training session at FC Barcelona and then a match against local opposition. First it was Barca training. This was great fun as it was really good to experience a different way of playing football. We did various different exercises and it was all just fantastic.
Then each of the four groups had a game against local opposition. These were very tough matches in tough conditions (because of the humidity) and we lost three games and won one. It was a great atmosphere and the team learnt a lot from the experience.
Summer Term 2013
2nd Day -
The second day was quite relaxing. After the journey to Spain, and then a physically demanding day the day after, the staff deciding that we all needed a rest. Firstly, we had breakfast, which was really tasty, and then we went down to the local beach. It was really good fun and a time to relax for all of the boys. We then went to the Nou Camp - it was brilliant! We got to look at all of their trophies (they had quite a few) and Jamie Martin and I had our photo taken so it looked like we were standing next to Carlos Puyol!
3rd Day -
We had more games against the local teams. This went a lot different to the previous game because we had experience of what the opposition would be like and how to play against them. One Year 8 team won their game 2-1, with another year 9 team winning comfortably too. Our other teams drew one game and lost one game. Rory Harper scored what he thought to be goal of the century, but it wasn’t really that good!
After this we watched the champions league final and ate pizza! It was a good laugh and there was a bit of a supporters divide throughout the whole room!
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4th Day -
We went to another session of Barcelona training which was just as good, if not better. The session was different but they were still trying to teach us the same thing, the FCB philosophy. We then went for our first FC Espanyol training session. This was really good as well because it was teaching us yet another philosophy of football.
5th Day -
We visited a football shop named FutbolMania! We searched around the shop looking for things to take home with us, and it was great to see so many Spanish items and objects. Our last training session with FC Espanyol! It was another fantastic session and a good end to the football on our trip.
6th Day
(Departure)-
There isn’t really much to say about this day apart from the fact that I had an absolutely great time, and I’m sure if you asked any of the other boys that went, they’d say the same. On behalf of the boys that went on the tour, thanks to everyone involved. Tom Wyatt
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
News from
Sylvia Wood, our Pathway Careers Hello again!
As I am sure you already know my name is Sylvia Wood and I am the Pathway Careers Advisor for Christleton High School. I am based here at Christleton High School every Wednesday when I will be involved in activities such as guidance interviews, group work and talks with students.
Any student who wishes to meet with me for help, support, advice or guidance related to careers and future pathways can make an appointment to see me through Mr Francis or Mrs Varley. I will also be available at most Parents’ Evenings at school and appointments to meet me can be arranged for this as well. I can also be contacted directly at sylviawood@live.co.uk At this time of year many young people are thinking about summer or part time work. This can be a really valuable way of developing all sorts of skills and experience, although there are some restrictions to bear in mind: -
•
• •
•
Children are not allowed to work:
without an employment permit issued by the education department of the local council, if this is required by local bylaws
Advisor… • • • • •
The music department teamed up with Musical Routes (Cheshire West & Chester Music Hub) in May to provide a pilot whole-class violin experience with some Year 7 students. Mimi Pearce, a string specialist for Musical Routes, delivered a series of 6 lessons and even loaned each student a violin to practise at home.
for more than one hour before school (unless local bylaws allow it)
for more than four hours without taking a break of at least one hour
in most jobs in pubs and betting shops and those prohibited in local bylaws
in any work that may be harmful to their health, well-being or education
without having a two-week break from any work during the school holidays in each calendar year
There are also special rules which only apply during term times and school holiday times. You can find more information on these rules through the following links:
https://www.gov.uk/childemployment/restrictions-onchild-employment http://www.cheshirewestandche ster.gov.uk/residents/education_ and_learning/early_years_and_c hildcare/education_welfare_servi ce/child_employment.aspx
in places like a factory or industrial site
Good luck to all students who have the opportunity for some summer or part-time work. I look forward to getting to even more students in the Autumn term..
before 7am or after 7pm
Sylvia Wood Pathway Careers Advisor
during school hours
It’s A String Thing...
Comments from some of the student include:
“I was thrilled at this concept; it really opened my mind to the violin and I had a great time (despite how nervous I was!)” “I have learned a lot over these past 6 weeks!”
“I really appreciate that you took the time to teach us some violin skills. Thank you!” “Learning the violin was fun and exciting”
“We learned to play cool songs by Mumford & Sons and other bands”
Miss Pearce, who usually teaches strings to primary school children, said:
“I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Year 7 at Christleton. Their progress during our Folk Fiddle project has been extremely rapid, and I was delighted to work with such a well-motivated group of young people.”
Feedback and instruction videos were given by means of a secure website so there was communication between lessons as well. Thanks to Miss Pearce for her exciting teaching and for igniting a new spark within some of our children.
Summer Term 2013
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Thanks to Mr Burns, Mrs Charlton, and Mrs Charlton for accompanying us. Dominika Sadczuk 10B4
People
Power to the A few weeks ago a group of Year 10 and 11 students visited the National Grid South Manchester Substation. We met the manager of the substation who gave us an interesting talk about the role of National Grid in the country and a talk about the future of energy. We also got to walk across the substation with its large components including transformers and generators.
I found the visit very interesting and it made clear to me how important energy conservation and sustainability is for the future of this country and our lives. Kieran Trevor 11L5
Earlier this term a group of about twenty students and I went on a Pathways trip to the National Grid. The day started off with a presentation on what energy actually is and how it’s produced with some information on the different types of power stations there are. After a quick break in small groups we were taken around the site with our very own tour
guide; we had to follow some of the health and safety rules so we all put on our hard hats, luminous jackets and safety glasses. We even got to go right up to all the machinery where the electricity flows.
Later the company kindly prepared a lovely lunch for our school which we all enjoyed. Lastly another man from the national grid introduced us to the topic of ‘Energy in the Future’ mentioning many things to do with sustainable energy and new ways on powering our daily lives. A lot of his talk was based on what we can do to help our planet to become more efficient, what the people who work for this company do and how they try to predict the amount of electricity England will need at a specific time of day. All in all the trip was a great success and along the way I learned many new things; for example, the weather forecast helps the employees of the National Grid to predict when people will need more energy and when less.
Mrs Harding – the head of Geography – has been leading a group of staff who have been looking at an exciting new concept called Building Learning Power.
Guided by an external Consultant, a group of 14 staff have been researching and developing resources that will promote greater independence in our students and help them understand how to become better learners.
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The Swan Christleton High School Magazine
Calling all Year 11 Students…
Year 11: Pathway to a Medical Career
...Work Experience week is
less than three months away! Work Experience: Monday 14th to Friday 18th October 2013
Reminder: the week before October half term is Work Experience week; this means that Year 11 students will be off-timetable for the week and be able to get valuable experience of the world of work and a possible future career.
Research continues to show that in a highly competitive jobs market relevant work experience can make a huge difference to students’ employability. Work Experience also helps with future decision making about careers; students can understand work likes and dislikes better, learn about an occupation and decide whether it is for them. At the time of writing we have received confirmation of placements for the vast majority of the year group. Companies and organisations kindly offering placements include: • Airbus
• Chester District Housing Trust • Unilever
• Bike Factory
• Blue Planet
Emma Brand, Hugh Gibson & Alice Russell look forward to a possible future in Medicine
“We visited Keele University School of Medicine for a Careers Day which was very informative. The day helped in teaching us what life would be like when studying medicine and what subjects and grades we would need beforehand. We took part in many activities such as testing samples for diabetes and looking at real organs.
Overall we had a great day and it has really encouraged us to continue to learn about medicine.”
• Scottish Power Energy Networks
• UHY Hacker Young Accountants
Alice Russell 11B4 Emma Brand 11B1 Hugh Gibson 11B5 and Katie Gibson 11L2
Thank you to all of the organisations who are assisting, and good luck to all our Year 11 students!
Many thanks to Keele University Medical School for providing this fantastic opportunity!
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