Tuxford Topics by David Cotton

Stars in their Eyes Page 4

Tuxford Topics The official termly newsletter of Tuxford Academy

Issue No. 73

Spring Term 2013

Tuxford boosts county performance A Message from the Head of School Welcome to the Spring Edition of Tuxford Topics and I do hope you enjoy catching up with some of the highlights of last term. Around this time of the year the DfE releases the validated examination statistics for 2012, and as you are hopefully aware Tuxford continues to move forward rapidly, with 77% of our students last year achieving 5+ A*-Cs including English and Maths. This is a 20% increase compared to 5 years ago and this rate of progress is reflected in all the examination statistics for 2012. We are justly proud of these outcomes and congratulate our students on their hard work and thank our parents for their support. We are equally proud of the contribution Tuxford has made to raising the standards across Nottinghamshire, but this success may not be familiar to readers. Approximately 10 years ago the Local Authority asked

Tuxford to lead a network of six secondary schools focused on raising standards. By working together, teachers were able to share ideas and resources for the benefit of all the students within our schools. This strategy was so successful that very quickly six further networks were established involving the vast majority of secondary schools in Nottinghamshire. The impact upon standards has been dramatic. This year 60.3% of Nottinghamshire students achieved 5+ A*-Cs including English and Maths, 2.5% above the national average. This compares to 43.3% in 2008, 4% below the national average. It is through partnership work that these outcomes have been achieved and we should celebrate the contribution that Tuxford has made to improving standards across not only our community but also across Nottinghamshire.

15 years we have worked on joint initiatives, shared ideas and liaised closely during a period of transition. All our primary schools and 6 secondary schools from our network have now formed our Teaching School Alliance, again with a clear focus on raising standards.

Another very productive partnership has involved our primary schools. For more than

Mr G D Lloyd

Raising academic standards within a caring supportive environment has been at the centre of all our successes. The vertical tutor groups and the college system have ensured that students feel valued and supported and again we have freely shared these ideas with many schools. Often we welcome visitors to Tuxford to find out about our outstanding pastoral systems and they always leave impressed with our students and the climate within our school.

Principal

How parents can support revision Level of Involvement

We are approaching one of the most stressful times for young people as they prepare for their exams. Parents/carers have a key role to play in helping them to manage stress. Here are a few tips...

Passive

1. Emphasise that there is still enough time to do useful revision. 2.

Check that your son/daughter has a specification and past papers to work from. These are available on exam board websites (AQA, OCR, EDEXCEL).

Encourage good work, not hard work. Some students cling to the “read it lots of times and it will go in” approach to revision. This is not an effective use of time. The diagram (right) indicates that active learning is the best strategy.

4. For maximum retention learning should be revisited after an hour, then after 24 hours, then after a week. 5.

Encourage your son/daughter to talk to you about a topic they have revised. The conversation will help them consolidate their understanding.

Active

We Tend to Remember... Reading Hearing Words Looking at Pictures Watching a Movie Looking at an Exhibit Watching a Demonstration Seeing it Done on Location Participating in a Discussion Giving a Talk Doing a Dramatic Presentation Simulating the Real Experience Doing the Real Thing

10% of What We Read 20% of What We Hear 30% of What We See

10% 20% 30%

50% of What We See & Hear

50%

70% of What We Say

70%

90% of What We Say & Do

90%

Regular meals, a good night’s sleep and planned time off will help to maintain good levels of health. Some studies suggest that skipping breakfast means that by 10.30am a teenager will have the reaction time of a 70 year old!

Ensure that they have a quiet place to work, free from distractions like twitter and facebook. It can take over a minute to re-focus on work each time there is an interruption from a social network site.

Use their revision cards to help test them on keywords. Mind maps and revision posters should be displayed in the “most looked at” place at home: e.g. by their mirror; on the fridge; on the back of the toilet door...

9. Encourage your son/daughter to discuss any difficulties in understanding with their teachers as soon as possible. 10. Remind them that it will all be over by the end of June...

PTA Quiz Evening raises £540 The annual PTA Quiz Evening was held on Saturday 26th January in the school hall. 90 people attended in 16 teams. Thanks go to our own Mr Philip Baker who had done an excellent quiz once again and Julie

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Hethershaw, Mollie Whitehead and their team in the kitchen for the usual excellent supper. Final thanks go to everyone who attended -

£540 was made for PTA funds. For all you keen quiz aficionados, the next quiz is already being planned to take place next January - date yet to be confirmed!

A new type of 24 hour Diner

How families can help promote Literacy Here at Tuxford Academy, we are serious about improving literacy and one of our most recent initiatives is to encourage KS3 students to carry a reading book and a levelled spelling bookmark with them at all times. Learning Time is being used to allow students more time to improve reading and spelling by working together with their peers, tutors, co-tutors and Post 16 assistants.

On Tuesday 8th January, a new Italian restaurant, Eat@Tuxford, popped up in Tuxford Academy. Open for one day only, it was run by the Y10 GCSE Food Technology students. Classroom DT1 was converted into a 32-seater restaurant complete with mood lighting and background music. All of the food was prepared and cooked by the students fresh to order. The menu consisted of a choice of either Lasagne or Pizza, followed by either Lemon Cheesecake or Tiramisu. The first sitting at 12pm saw 24 students enjoy a free two course meal. These students had been picked by their College leaders for the reward. They were joined at this meal by fellow diners Mr Lloyd, our Principal, and Mrs Nichol, Behaviour for Learning Leader. Then at 1pm 32 paying customers (members of Tuxford Academy staff) also dined in the

restaurant. Whilst the food and drink flowed in the restaurant, a further 22 staff who had paid in advance received a Pizza delivered to their desks. The day was a great success with fantastic customer feedback given. The students worked extremely hard all day to run an authentic restaurant. Mrs Hogan said, “I am extremely proud of the Y10 Food Technology students. They couldn’t have worked any harder and many of our diners said how professional they were.” The students really enjoyed the day too. “It was a great, fun experience,” said Eleanor Wheatcroft whilst Emily Holmes thought it was “good to get a wider experience of the food industry.” For those wondering whether the Eat@ Tuxford restaurant will ever ‘pop up again’, all Mrs Hogan would say was “watch this space!”

Simon’s learning journey impresses Simonas Alksnevicius was aged 11 when his parents emigrated from their home country of Lithuania to England. The family wanted a better education for their son and to give him greater opportunities for employment. When Simonas arrived at Tuxford Academy in Year 7 he only knew the English words he had learnt from computer games and through watching television! Simon (as he is known to his new friends) was supported in lessons at first, but he picked up the language in a remarkably short space of time and overcame any obvious communication barriers to become both a popular and an academically successful student. “It was weird at first,” he recalls, “but I made friends with another foreign student which helped a lot. The English language is completely

different from Lithuanian and so when I wanted to ask something it was really hard.” After two years at Tuxford Academy Simon feels settled and accepted. He enjoyed the school trip to Paris last year and in December he took part in the DALP Creative Arts festival at the Majestic Theatre. He enjoys performing, is keen to do more and is obviously good because he tells us that he won a couple of dancing competitions in Lithuania.

We would like to invite parents (as well as grandparents, brothers and sisters) to get involved with this initiative by listening to your children read as a matter of course and supporting them in learning their spellings. Their new planners have a reading and spelling log just waiting to record their progress. Feel free to add comments, praise and encouragement and we will make sure that they are rewarded for their efforts. Literacy is not only vital to function in a modern, communications-led society, but also for personal pleasure and for intellectual growth. •

Literacy supports learning. Students need vocabulary, expression and organisational control to cope with the learning demands of all subjects.

• Reading enables us to learn from sources beyond our immediate experience. • Through language we make and revise meaning. • Writing helps us to sustain and order thought. • Responding to higher order questions encourages development of thinking skills and enquiry. • Better literacy leads to improved self esteem, motivation and behaviour. It allows pupils to learn independently. It is empowering. If we all work together then there should be a huge impact on your child’s literacy levels which will help him or her to make progress in all subject areas. If you would like more information on how we can work together, please contact Head of English Pat Evans.

Simon is a member of the chess club at Tuxford Academy too and is very much enjoying learning a second foreign language, German, at school. He recalls that settling into a new country and culture was challenging, but the evidence that he has settled in is his interest in one of our national obsessions. “The weather is the biggest difference,” says Simon. “It’s always raining in England; Lithuania is a lot hotter in the summer and colder in the winter.” If a career in languages doesn’t develop he could always become a meteorologist!

A spelling test in form time

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Astronomy Club

The Astronomy Club is a relatively new afterschool club open to all students regardless of experience. Our members just need to be enthusiastic and curious about space! We have been meeting once a fortnight on Wednesday nights between 5.30pm to 7pm since November. We meet in S8 and have a mix of year 7-12 regularly attending. The PTA, Governors and the school have kindly donated money to enable us to buy some fantastic equipment. We have 2 large computerised ‘Go To’ Celestron NexStar reflecting telescopes (4inches and 6 inches) as well as 3 other smaller manual reflecting telescopes and 8 large 15x50 Celestron SkyMaster binoculars. These have been used to view the constellations such as Orion and Ursa Major as well as to locate planets such as Jupiter and its 4 Galilean moons. We have been relatively lucky with the weather and hope to take photos of our observations in the future. We always have a ‘poor weather plan’, this is England after all! Future projects include designing an Astronomy Club badge, learning how to use the telescopes (through an orienteering challenge), looking at space food and possibly visiting the Leicester Space Centre. We may even have a weekend camp in the Peak District to view the skies away from town light pollution. We have already had one club trip to the Mansfield and Sutton Observatory and are going to the birthplace of Sir Isaac Newton, Woolsthorpe Manor, during the February half term holidays to observe the night sky and experience a planetarium. We have 22 members going including many parents. On 20th March we are also going to Tattershall Castle to meet local astronomers and hopefully to observe Comet PanStarrs. Again, a group of students and parents are attending. The club is also a great social occasion. The club will continue after February half term and meeting dates will be on the academy website. We hope to undertake solar observations in the summer term.

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Stargazing for beginners Hannah Barnett of Year 7 is one of the youngest members of the school’s Astronomy Club. We asked her why she joined: I wanted to get to know more about the stars - and to share my interest with others. We have about twenty student members of all ages between Year 7 and Year 12 but also three teachers are very keen. Each has a particular interest – the solar system, the planets or distant stars. Some had good knowledge before they joined; others are just beginning their interest. Activities have included stargazing with telescopes viewing NASA pictures of planets and studying the impact of meteorites hitting the Earth. We talk about comets, meteorites, asteroids and anything to do with space. It is really interesting to learn about the history and the future of space exploration as well as what is

happening now. Everyone thinks it is a great opportunity to learn about space and we want to say a massive thank you to the teachers who run it for everything they do. We do lots of different activities - one week we created gliders and dropped them off a balcony to see how they flew. Another week we dropped stones into trays of sand, soil and flour to show how craters form on the moon. When it is a clear night, we go outside with binoculars and telescopes. We like to look at the planets, especially Jupiter as you can see its different coloured gas stripes and its four moons. I like this club a lot and I think anyone who goes would really enjoy it. The club has given me a great interest in Science and I am now considering a career as a Science teacher. I certainly intend to study three science subjects for GCSE.

Observatory Visit Recently members of the Tuxford School Astronomy Club undertook a visit to the Sherwood Observatory. Patrick Surguy, Y10, gave us his impressions: “I thoroughly enjoyed the visit and found it an exciting learning experience. While there, we were shown the incredibly impressive Mark

telescope built in the 1970s which was one of the highlights of my year. We had all the working of it explained to us. I was really interested by the science behind the telescope and the talk allowed me to find out even more. Overall, I enjoyed the whole evening and would certainly go again.”

Rural Studies Revival For most people the school gardens are simply an attractive outdoor space. They recognise that school gardener, Alan Hardy, has made an enormous difference to the appearance of the meadow areas beside Sherwood Wing, but they may not know that students are engaged in running the gardens too - either as an extra-curricular interest or as an alternative curriculum subject. The surprising truth is that some of these students are devoting as much time and interest to the school’s outdoor spaces as previous intakes devoted to the former farm unit. Tuxford School was founded as a specialist rural school with a small attached farm to offer vocational training to future agricultural workers. As the economics of the countryside changed the need for such a specialism faded - and technology became the new focus. However, in recent years there has been renewed interest in ecology, wildlife and green issues by people of all ages. That is why the gardens feature much more than flowers and herbs. Students are not only learning some of the skills of gardening, but also an understanding of wildlife habitats, the balance of nature and the food chain as a brief outline of recent developments in the gardens will illustrate.

Overview of gardens

Extensive tree planting occurred last year - mainly around the field, the pond and car parks. 130 trees of various species were established. More than this number were kindly donated by Woodland Trust, but some were passed on to a primary school. We should soon see the results of a daffodil planting project. Many bulbs have been planted in different areas of school by students selected at random by their colleges. A wildflower meadow is being established between the pond and the trees outside the Hub. The Woodland Trust kindly donated more than 50 packets of seed for the wildflower project. Cresswell Crags Visitor Centre donated a further 20 packets of seeds. The area of land has been dug over with the help of students and the seeds will soon be planted. Much work has also gone into creating wildlife areas. A hedgehog box has been made from recycled timber by two Y9 students Max Mawer and Chelsea Davis. It is expected to take approximately a year before this is inhabited. Five toad boxes have been dug in around the pond, also made of recycled timber. Twelve bird boxes and several hanging bird feeders have been

One of Russell’s feeders

made by Russell Parker, Y7, who explained, “Helping the wildlife during winter is very important. I hope the birds around school will use the places provided to nest and feed and if anyone else is interested in helping us on more projects for the school environment please contact Mr Hardy or me.” To the left of the steps leading up from the fitness trail to the sensory garden and memorial garden, a small garden has been established to attract butterflies. The plants were generously donated by the school’s PTA. Forthcoming projects include the creation of “bug hotels”, a bug area beside the pond and a manufacturing operation run by students to provide fat balls for the birds. The garden room is becoming a busy place and much interest in horticulture, plants and wildlife is being generated. Soon it is hoped that a Bird Watching Club will run on Fridays - the Tuxford Twitchers! Tuxford is still a rural school. There may not be many opportunities for agricultural workers these days, but gardening and care for the environment are popular leisure interests and they are likely to continue growing, both in popularity and in importance.

Butterfly steps

Tuxford joins RHS Campaign The Royal Horticultural Society supported by Waitrose is promoting a national Campaign for School Gardening. The intention is to encourage more schools to develop gardens and to interest young people in gardening. Of course we didn’t need any encouragement at Tuxford because we have been developing the school grounds ever since we moved into the new building in 2007. Nevertheless we have joined the Campaign. The Campaign is also a benchmark of achievement so schools win prizes for achieving different levels of development. Thanks to the efforts of staff members, Alan

Hardy, Julie Machin and Delia Higgins and many students Tuxford has been awarded Level 3 status. A voucher was received in January for 200 plants to create a large vegetable garden in recognition of the work already done to develop the school gardens.

and dug the land for planting with potatoes, red cabbage, broad beans, onions and garlic. School gardener Alan Hardy was impressed by them: “All the students were fully committed and they never faltered in their enthusiasm and hard work.”

Students usually contribute to the gardens through either the School Gardening Club or the Inclusion Gardening Project. In the Spring of 2012 a group of students made compost bins from pallets and developed a system for capturing rainwater in butts for use in the gardens. They also divided up an assigned part of the grounds to create vegetable plots - using their maths skills -

Academy Principal Geoff Lloyd, has agreed that this year the students will be able to keep the produce that they grow. There will be carrots, dwarf beans and several other different vegetables as well as the types grown last year. The plan now is to achieve Level 4 of the Campaign. You can find more details of what we will need to do at: www.rhs.org.uk/schoolgardening

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The finer points of fencing “It was all harder than I imagined, but I thought I would enjoy the challenge,” he remembers. Just over a year after that first lesson, Ralph was ready for competition experience so he was entered for an inter-county U13 bout. “It was good practice and I knew before going that I would not be very competitive in the first year. However, I must admit that I was daunted at the start when all the other competitors were doing athletic warm up exercises whilst I sat quietly watching!” He now realises that this is all part of the game of psyching out the opposition.

Ralph Reader-Sullivan, Year 8, is an enthusiast for the sport of fencing. His father got interested in the sport when he worked in Reading which has a very successful local club. Ralph became involved when he accompanied his father to the local club based at Highfields School, Newark at the age of ten. Fernwood Sword Club, Newark attracts mainly males (but there are some females) of all ages from 7 to 55 who meet every Tuesday. It enters members in various competitions at county and regional levels and junior and senior categories. For his first lesson, Ralph had to learn footwork because it is not permitted to step outside a narrow “piste” and although lunges are allowed you can’t walk forward. He tried on some of the protective clothing and learned the basic attack and defence moves so by the end he was ready to join.

Today - two years older - he is a real contender in competitions. Recently, he came third in the regional championship. His weapon of choice is the sabre, the broadest of the three main swords. It has a sharp side because it is a cutting blade - for taking side swipes at an opponent. The other two swords rely on their pointed tips rather than the whole lengths of blade. The foil is flexible with a narrow blade; the épée is rigid with a rectangular cross-section. Competition fencing involves wearing protective clothing with sensors sewn in. The sensor detects when there is a hit from an opponent’s weapon. Five hits secure a victory. Competitors fence against several opponents and the winner is the person with the highest score. Ralph is very keen to promote the sport and he recommends it to anyone who wants to master another skill. We will follow his progress with interest so watch this space for news of Ralph’s future successes.

Olivia secures place at Royal Academy of Music Tuxford Academy is proud to announce that former student Olivia Caputa who was featured in our summer 2012 edition secured a place on the opera course at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London. Olivia auditioned in December and impressed the panel so much that she was given the good news on the day. The school’s Head of Music Jeff Evason, commented, “We are so thrilled for Olivia. She set her sights on this goal from a young age. Since then she has done everything in her power to succeed.” Olivia has already had a very fulfilling career with the girls’ choir ‘Cantamus’ in Mansfield, but she has made sacrifices to achieve the high standards required to succeed. Audiences will remember her playing the role ‘Killer Queen’ in our 2012 production of ‘We Will Rock You’. Academy Principal Geoff Lloyd had this message for Olivia: “Everyone at Tuxford wishes you every success as you embark on an exciting chapter of your life alongside some of the most talented young musicians in the world.”

Steven Pickering Award We were saddened recently to hear news of the untimely death of a former Tuxford student. Steven Pickering attended the school between 1970 and 1977 in the days when Mr Jeffcott was deputy head. He was a keen sportsman and played both football and cricket. He loved the outdoor life so it is not surprising that he became a builder. Now Steven’s family have chosen the school as the place to establish a permanent memorial to him. His sister Christine, also a former student, explained that the family’s connection to the school now spans three generations. “Steven’s children came here and a nephew and niece are here at the moment,” she told us. An initial generous donation has paid for a bird bath in the Memorial Garden. It is hoped

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that it will attract more varieties of birds to the gardens during lesson time. “We think he would like to be remembered for helping young people to appreciate the world around them,” Christine explained. However, the family is also making a commitment to support the school’s celebration of student achievement into the future. They are providing funding to establish two student prizes: the ‘Steven Pickering Award for Service to the Community’ and the ‘Gardener of the Year Award’. It is hoped that the awards will encourage more young people to do voluntary work and to value the skills not taught in classrooms. Steven would have agreed that the country has a need for people who take pride in working with their hands just as much as for people with academic ability.

Students really sparkled on 5th November! For younger students the fifth of November was Science Curriculum Day. Appropriately for the date, students learnt how fireworks were made, discovered what made them coloured and even had a go at making their own sparklers. Working in groups they also conducted an experiment to measure the change in their heart rate after listening to a loud noise (a balloon bursting). They considered how language can generate feelings of excitement and had the opportunity to create firework poems. The general verdict by staff and students was that the event was a fun, engaging and different learning experience. Year 10 students used the curriculum day

to prepare and work on their GCSE modern language controlled assessment. It was a brilliant opportunity to focus on the task for a sustained period of time – and will have helped students do well. Mr Creegan was very pleased with the effort and application shown by the students on the day: “They were a real credit to themselves,” he commented. For Year 11 students it was a Maths Curriculum Day. They focused on revision workshops with their Maths teachers to help prepare them for their forthcoming GCSE Maths exam. An advantage of specialist days is that students can cover so much material and sharpen so many skills by immersing themselves in one subject. For Maths they are able to prepare for

external modular GCSE exams. Mr Peacock was delighted with the application of the students - and with the excellent individual GCSE Maths results in January 2013.

Sampling the delights of French culture - in Nottingham

Sun, sand and soccer

Surely there is some mistake, is it possible to find authentic French cuisine in the East Midlands? Is there an audience for French language films outside the malls and clubs of Nottingham? Mr Creegan, subject leader for modern foreign languages, clearly believes that the answer to both questions is “Oui!” - and that is why he took 38 Year 9 students of French to Nottingham for the day on Tuesday 8th January.

A large group of Tuxford students from Years 8, 9 and 10 visited Barcelona in October half term week, but it wasn’t the culture that attracted them - it was football. We asked Charley Ferris Y10 to tell us all about it: Flying isn’t my thing – but the prospect of a week in Barcelona playing football with my friends was exciting. Even the thunder storm upon landing couldn’t dampen my spirits. The food in the hotel wasn’t fantastic and the bed wasn’t my own, but I really didn’t mind as this was such an incredible experience. Speaking as a football fan for the past 8 years, the prospect of a week playing football in Barcelona was a bit like a dream for me. This isn’t just because of the beautiful weather, but Spain is well renowned for playing the most incredible style of football ever. We had three training sessions during the trip - with Bolton Wanderers Football Club staff - all focusing on pass and move football (a skill we most definitely need). These were extremely beneficial and more importantly, enjoyable experiences! However, the highlight of the trip for me was being able to play football against Spanish teams - that clearly based their play on Barcelona. Whilst

in Barcelona, we won one game and lost one, which is not a bad record compared to the history of national teams. It is one thing watching Spain pass the ball around on TV and thinking ‘Tackle him’ and it is another playing against a real Spanish team. These teams were well prepared and clearly took it all very seriously. In one game we walked out to the theme tune of the Champions League! Crowds of parents and children were in the stands, pre match warm-ups took place and pristine 3G pitches were amazing to play on. The opposition teams were another level above us on technical ability. However, our physicality suited us greatly and we overpowered the first team and to an extent the second team. Unfortunately the opposition In the second game thought it was their duty to dive whenever someone touched them - which put a slight damper on the trip. I feel compelled to say the biggest things I took from the trip were amazing new football skills. I played the sport I love with my friends and I went to the beach. It was a fabulous week in Spain and I enjoyed a wholly different experience from going anywhere else.

First stop was The Broadway Cinema, once named one of the top 10 cinemas in the world due to its ‘chocolate love seats’ designed by Nottingham’s international designer Sir Paul Smith. As well as the usual Hollywood offerings it screens World Cinema and independent titles; it even exhibits digital art projections by local and international artists. On this occasion the Tuxford group went to see “Bienvenue chez les ch’tis” - a comedy with English subtitles. Student Leah Lam’s verdict on the film was favourable: “I thought the movie was good; it was really funny.” Emily New found the subtitles helpful rather than distracting or irritating. After the film the party went on to the ‘French Living’ Brasserie to sample typical French cuisine, prepared for them by French chefs and then served to them by French waiters. “I thought the meal was really nice and gave an insight into French culinary culture,” Chris Ward told us. Unfortunately the identity of the student giving the following feedback is unknown, but he or she clearly enjoyed the visit: “My favourite part about the trip to Nottingham was all of it! I enjoyed the entire day. The film was interesting and funny. I enjoyed the meal and it was nice to try different foods. I really enjoyed spending the day with my friends and seeing the teachers so relaxed.”

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Two minutes of glory

War Horse! Each year the Academy and its feeder schools (TFC) offer Year 6 students transferring to Tuxford a transition project centred around a Michael Morpurgo novel. Creative work starts in earnest in Year 6 after the SATs and the students visit Perlethorpe Environmental Education Centre during Transition Week to ‘bring the book to life’. Staff from all key stages working together has added to our strong partnership over the years.

Four Tuxford Academy Post 16 students flew to a sun-soaked Adelaide, Australia, in November. The 14 day trip was part-funded by local businesses, but the boys were not there for a holiday. They are all members of Retford and District Lifesaving Club and their coach, Mr Pete Moyes, had selected them to take part in the World Championships. Jonathan Hancock, James Calverley, James Manifield and Jonathan Moore competed against 50 other teams in the simulated emergency response competition at the South Australia Aquatic Centre. Their event required them to save as many “casualties” as possible from an Olympic size swimming pool in two minutes. Team captain Jonathan said, “It was a really stressful competition because we didn’t know what kind of scenario we would be facing. We had to estimate which

casualties to save and treat first.” The team had trained hard for the competition for over a year, but they were not confident of a good result against the best young lifesavers in the world. James said, “We didn’t think we would finish in the top ten.” As it turned out they did rather better than that – finishing second and taking away silver medals. Whilst the boys were in Australia, Retford and District Lifesaving Club also arranged for them to swim with wild dolphins and to visit a zoo to see the Kangaroos. The longhaul 24 hour flight was Jonathan Hancock’s first time on an aeroplane! He told us, “The trip and experience was a once in a lifetime opportunity. The team would like to thank everyone involved in organising our trip and supporting us.”

The Yorkshire Dales Challenge At the beginning of October, a group of students from the BTEC Sports and Public Services groups took part in a Yorkshire Dales challenge near Malham in North Yorkshire. Macaulay Fenwick and Luke Christie, Y11, gave us this account: Our objective was to walk 15 miles and camp out for one night in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The challenge was a test of the following skills: • Communication - we had to write a letter and phone people. • Planning - we booked the campsite and minibus. • Working within a team - we divided tasks between us before and during the expedition. • Endurance - we had to walk with all our equipment.

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• Pitching and striking camp - we put up tents and took them down. • Map and compass - we learned how to navigate. Mr Nichol and Mr Marshall accompanied us. We were dropped off at Newfield Bridge and we camped out at Gordale Scar campsite. On the first day we had a mixture of rain and sun. During the night it rained heavily but our tents stayed dry. The following day we continued our walk to Malham Tarn and then to Malham where we were picked up to return to school. The trip was a great success. We accepted the challenge and showed what we could do. It was a fantastic time enjoyed by all of us. Team members were: Luke Christie, Macaulay Fenwick, Josh McDermott, Jack Mante, Tom Magee, Richard Sykes, Tom Cowgill, Clare Berry, Amber Boas, Ash Higgs and Matt Brough.

This year Morpurgo’s novel ‘War Horse’ was at the forefront of everyone’s mind because of the success of film and stage versions. The author even did a ‘guest spot’ on the top of the National Theatre as the Queen’s Jubilee Barge went past! It seemed obvious that this was a chance to try a new text and a chance to use the fantastic facilities at The Queen’s Royal Lancers & Nottinghamshire Yeomanry Museum, at Thoresby. This fantastic resource (in effect, a ‘warhorse’ museum), allowed students to research other warhorse stories and bring them to life through monologue drama.

In September, when the students had moved schools, each of the 8 English classes worked on dramatising a scene from the novel - which were then submitted to Colin Wells of Interaction Films. On Thursday 11th October he came into school to direct a ‘crew’ of Year 7 film makers, actors and voiceover artistes and to ‘shoot’ the scripted scenes. Everyone in the Year had the chance to appear on screen in a huge crowd scene, ‘The Homecoming’ on the day of filming. The result was Tuxford’s very own version of War Horse - a fantastic achievement. English teacher Delia Higgins asked us to pass on the following message: “Well done Year 7 - what a great creative start to your time at Tuxford!”

New branding guidelines for Academy In September a staff working party led by Vice Principal Dave Cotton conducted a review of the school’s written communication to parents and the community. The group discovered that there was not a clear ‘house style’ for Tuxford. Different staff work on the various publications and they have different creative ideas. The ideas are always eyecatching and impressive, but on first sight they are not obviously associated with each other or this school. As a result of the review it was decided to adopt clear branding guidelines and to work on a distinct design to be incorporated into all letters, compliments slips, brochures, etc.

We enlisted the help of Sam Taylor of Dactyl Publishing to work on some designs for us. When we were happy with these we compiled brand guidelines to assist printers, sign makers, etc. These strong, distinctive characteristics hold our look and feel together whilst still allowing flexibility for different types of communication: 1. Tuxford Academy logo with school name and motto 2. Arial or Helvetica font 3. Strong use of white background 4. Diamond line motif 5. Colour bar motif representing 4 College colours

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and of The Divers

£4,000 presented to charities Last year one of the six non-uniform days was dedicated to Cancer and Pink charities. Many of our children and staff have already had experience of family members suffering from this disease and as a consequence, a number of extra fund raising events ran during the day. Two cancer charities were given £1,000: Aurora Charities and Teenage Cancer Trust. The Charity Committee also chose to support Tuxford charity CHinK and long term funding partner Marica Schools in India.

two plots of land bought in 2008. The aim of CHinK is to educate and care for 132 very poor and needy children from the age of 3 and upwards. For more information about CHinK, please visit the website www.chink.org.uk

Teenage Cancer Trust is another impressive charity which aims to give young people with cancer the access to a unit where medical help is only part of the treatment. Rooms are designed in such a way to enable the young person to have friends or relatives to stay in a more homely and natural atmosphere.

CHinK is a registered UK charity managed by trustees in Tuxford. The charity runs a school in Mtwapa on the Kenyan coast north of Mombasa. The school, currently with nine classrooms, opened in January 2009 on

Aurora Well-being Centre is a unit attached to Bassetlaw Hospital but not like a hospital. Cancer patients who go there are treated more individually with the intention of giving them a more normal life in a less hospitalised environment. Anyone can visit the Aurora centre and pay for a manicure, pedicure or massage that is given freely to the cancer patient. This is an excellent enterprising way to help the centre to use spare time and skills to generate much needed funds.

Business Breakfast

Charity Fair raises £1,500

Since 1993, Marica Schools in India has grown from supporting four children taking their lessons sitting under a tree to running what it is now five schools. If you would like to find out more about Marica or wish to personally join in the very valuable support for yourself, please visit the Marica website at www.maricaeducationalsociety.com

On Wednesday 17th October 2012 Tuxford Academy was the venue for a ‘Business Breakfast’ information session on the topic of Apprenticeships. As local business people joined staff for coffee and bacon sandwiches they listened to guest speakers from Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chambers of Commerce, The National Apprenticeships Service and Futures Apprenticeship Agency. The local employers had the opportunity to learn more about government support for apprenticeships and how the training aspect operates - as well as the chance to meet some of our P16 students. P16 staff who hosted the event were pleased to hold a community session in school. They are keen to build more links with local employers ahead of holding a similar event in the next academic year. If you run a local business and are interested in hearing more about future events, or if you may be able to offer a work placement or apprenticeship to a young person, please make contact by emailing gcupit@tuxford-ac.org.uk

The annual Paul Andrews Charity Fair took place on Thursday 22nd November 2012. £1,500 was raised for: Action for Children, Traidcraft, Tuxford Scouts, Guide Dogs for the Blind, ChinK,

Garden of Gifts, Aegis Trust, Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance, Children’s Society, Thornbury Animal Sanctuary, Sophie Lancaster Foundation, Sue’s Place and Bassetlaw Hospice.

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Tuxford code-breakers solve murder

Interested in Teaching? How to get involved Trent Valley Teaching School Alliance led by Tuxford Academy has secured a number of School Direct places starting in September 2013. The subjects included are:

During the 8th January Curriculum Day students from Years 7, 8 and 9 helped the TIA (Tuxford Intelligence Agency) solve a murder. Using knowledge of accurate historical codes, taken from a range of sources from Julius Caesar to WWII, students were able to decode messages identifying what had happened. The Key Stage 3 special agents discovered that it was none other than Mr Mosley who had done the evil deed. We didn’t want to spoil their mood so we didn’t let on that the

victim, Miss Davies, looked perfectly all right later in the day! A final message has been left by the head of the TIA for the agents to break: RFYLI WMS RSVDMPB QRSBCLRQ WMS KYIC MSRQRYLBGLE YECLRQ! If you can decode this message (Hint: Caesar code shift 2) please write it on some paper, put your name on it and hand it into Miss Barlow. There will be a prize draw for successful code breakers.

• Maths • English • Physics • Chemistry • Computer Science • Modern Foreign Languages • Primary Teaching The places are hosted at a number of Academies/Schools located across the East Midlands including:

• Tuxford Academy • East Leake Academy • Arnold Hill Academy • Retford Oaks Academy • The Priory C of E Primary School

Please see our website map for locations of the Academies and Schools. All places are linked with Nottingham Trent University

Paralympic star encourages students Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards were presented to students by their Heads of College on Thursday 22nd November. The event marked the success of last year’s Year 11, who achieved Tuxford’s best ever GCSE results. But for many the highlight of the evening was the inspirational talk given by local sports hero Sophie Wells. She is World and Euro Para Dressage Champion and winner of Paralympic team gold and two individual silvers at London 2012. She even has her very own gold postbox in Lincoln to show that the local community is proud of her! Sophie talked to us about her career and the challenges she has faced along the way. She encouraged our students to follow their dreams and never to give up. It was hugely motivational for all, and Sophie even stayed after the presentations to pose for photos with her medals.

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What is School Direct? School Direct is an innovative training opportunity that gives school the power to influence the way in which ITT is delivered and ensures the best potential teachers are recruited to the profession. The aim of School Direct is to: 1. Create more school-led training programmes that better meet the needs of schools and trainees. 2. Allow schools to recruit and train trainees in the subjects and phases where employment need is greatest. 3. Let schools choose which accredited provider they want to work with and give schools greater control of funding.

Further Information If you would like further information on the entry requirements and places available, please visit our website: www.tvtsa.co.uk Alternatively please email: getintoteaching@tvtsa.co.uk

Remembrance Events 2012 On Friday 9th November 2012 Tuxford Academy remembered the soldiers who have given their lives in past and present wars for their country. Students from youth organisations were given permission to wear their respective uniforms and at the start of the day WO2 Squadron Sergeant Major Hussain MBE, from the Army School of Explosive Ordnance, was invited to inspect the student cadets. For all other students there were special assemblies and a minute’s silence. The students who took part in the parade volunteered after Mr Nichol spoke in assembly. Holly Freeman, Y11, volunteered because she feels strongly that we ought to remember previous generations’ sacrifices for our freedom and she also wanted her air cadet squadron (1403 Retford) to be represented. On the day of the parade the students assembled by the flagpoles soon after 9.00 am. They were met by Andi Martin of Year 12, a corporal in the local air cadets, and by Mr Nichol. They were soon lined up in three ranks by height order. “Corporal Martin made us drill so that we came to attention smartly,” remembered Holly. “Everyone took it very seriously because we had high standards of discipline within our cadet forces to maintain.” Sergeant Major Hussain arrived about fifteen minutes later for the inspection. Corporal Martin brought the cadets to attention with a powerful voice and there was a loud thump of leather on concrete as they brought their feet together in unison. The sergeant major walked along the ranks and spoke to individuals. “He stopped to speak to me,” said Holly. “He wanted to know how long I had been in the

air cadets and what I want to do in the future. I said I had been in nearly two years and I am hoping to become an RAF pilot.” She should have added that she is already having flying lessons at Gamston Airport. Holly raises money for the poppy appeal every year as part of the cadets. She also supports Help for Heroes. “I think the former servicemen and women who have been permanently scarred by fighting for us need

our support and deserve it,” she explained. Former Colonel Patrick Mercer MP OBE was one of the guests of the school on the day. The Post 16 Public Services group was then given the opportunity to ask him questions. Mr Mercer also presented Y7 students Seamus Morrison and Alice Hopkins with a Citizenship Award from the scout movement in recognition of voluntary work that they have done both in and out of school.

Anti-Bullying Showcase at Mansfield Palace Theatre Once again the Drama department was invited to present an original piece of theatre at the county’s annual Anti-Bullying Showcase at Mansfield Palace Theatre. Schools, youth groups and other organisations presented a range of work including drama performances, original songs, dance performances, poetry, short films and art work offering insights into bullying. Anastasia O’Connell (Y10) told us of the Tuxford performers: “Our group ranged from Y9 students right through to Year 13 and though a few of us had worked together before on other projects, it was a totally new experience for some. We knew we would be performing for an audience of primary school children in the Mansfield area.” The performers rehearsed for 6 weeks before the 19th November presentation. Tuxford’s Head of Drama, Mr Nick Cox described the preparation:

“We tried to create a piece that would not only entertain young people, but also teach them of the risks of being pressured into bullying. The performance centred around a young boy’s

fun, panto-themed sketch (complete with a dance off) that still communicated a clear message of the consequences of bullying and how serious it can be.” They both agree that the performance was a huge success. Anastasia felt that “It was a brilliant experience for us and our audience thoroughly enjoyed it.” Mr Cox told us, “Both staff at the theatre and audience members commented on how enjoyable the performance was and how impressed they were by the conduct of our students. Tuxford Drama students proved yet again that not only are they extremely talented, but professional in every aspect of their work and attitude.”

dilemma of whether to ‘go with the crowd’ and be peer pressured into bullying a new girl to the school, or to take action and defend her.” Anastasia added, “Our performance was a

Educationally the event gave students the opportunity to perform in a professional venue and allowed them to gain some understanding and appreciation of the pressures of performing in a working theatre.

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An opportunity too good to be missed Sometimes, they would clear non-native trees and plant new trees or go on rhino patrols to check local rhinoceroses were all right and that no poachers were near. At other times, she would repair potholes in roads. She remembers an encounter with a huge buffalo on one trip. It came right up to their car but caused no damage. On another occasion, she saw the flashlights of a poaching gang. Once she found herself next to a poisonous snake in a tree and that was really scary.

Claudia Allen was impressed when Frontier, a company offering different kinds of ‘gap’ opportunities, gave a presentation in General Studies when she was in Year 12. Although she was not a seasoned traveller, she had been thinking of a career in nature conservation or zoology and this was a good opportunity to see if she liked it. She had a choice of locations: South Africa offered elephants, lions, rhinos and cheetahs whilst Costa Rica offered apes and turtles. She decided to book a place with the company to work in South Africa. Claudia needed to raise £3000 to meet the placement costs. She completed the Three Peaks Challenge to raise some sponsorship; she also organised a bake sale and ran parties for paying guests. As a result of her enterprise and hard work, she succeeded in raising the money and the trip to South Africa went ahead as planned. She arrived in Port Elizabeth on 1st July and was met by a man holding up her name. He couldn’t speak much English but she understood from him that they both had to wait for other volunteers arriving on later flights. Soon there was a man from Norway and a boy from Belgium and another girl from England trying to have a conversation. “We

were an odd group,” she remembers, “barely able to communicate and surrounded by huge bags and assorted hiking gear!” When all expected recruits had arrived, they were taken by minibus to a nearby hostel to wait a little longer - but could also meet some experienced volunteers. Claudia picked up several useful tips about which buses were safe to use, etc. They left the hostel at 7.00 pm to travel an hour to the Volunteers’ House. They ate at 8.00 pm and then sat around a bonfire talking until 11.30 pm.

Claudia enjoyed her month in the bush very much although it was cold because July is a winter month in the southern hemisphere. She had to buy some new jumpers in a hurry. She liked meeting new people and doing new things. The whole experience has inspired her to travel and she intends to take a gap year before starting a zoology degree. She hopes to spend nine months in Australia. She has already obtained a work visa and hopes to support herself whilst there. She would like to go on a ranger’s course eventually and return to South Africa for a while. Then she hopes to work in conservation and to write up studies of wildlife to share with other professionals. It sounds as though one general studies presentation may have changed her life!

The Volunteers’ House had a lion enclosure next to it. Claudia noticed that they only had flimsy wire netting holding them in. Next to that was a cheetah enclosure. About a mile away was another lion enclosure for lions almost ready to be released into the wild. Some of the animals had been bred but others had been orphaned or injured or sent from other centres. There were about 25 volunteers who were split into three groups. Some in each group were more experienced and some like Claudia had just arrived. In the mornings the groups left in different jeeps and cars.

Impressed by Poland Post 16 students are continuing the annual Poland Exchange programme and they will soon be hosting a visit of Polish students to England. Here Connor Deith tells us of his experiences in Poland during the first part of the Exchange. Our seven day trip began on 9th October and for me the exchange was a completely new experience. The chance to observe a new culture was an appealing aspect of the trip. The people themselves were exceedingly friendly and were also very considerate about the fact that it was our first visit to East Europe. There was no difficulty with language differences

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whilst we were there as the exchange partners were confident with their English, providing us with reassurance. I stayed with a family of three who made me extremely welcome. The food was all home made. There were lots of potato dishes, home made soups and a lot of beef – all of which was very much enjoyed by me! As we travelled around, there were places that reminded us of communist times, such as the bleak looking housing blocks located on the outer regions of Poznań. They gave the immediate impression of a grim, scarce society, but the lively atmosphere of Poznań’s city centre reflects how Polish society has moved

on and has started to prosper. Nevertheless, cars were mainly Eastern European vehicles, such as Fiat Poland from Italian owned factories in Poland. The transport systems consisted largely of cheap but affordable trains that provided a reliable and efficient service. Polish youth were well adapted to modern technological developments and the advancements in social-media, much like any British teenager. This meant that we were able to communicate with our partners before we had even left the UK, and to get to know them. It made the whole process of meeting them for the first time more manageable.

Celebrity footballer coaches Y10 group

Sophie named Volunteer of the Year Olympic swimming champion Mark Foster and Paralympic cyclist Crystal Lane were the guests of honour at this year’s Bassetlaw Sports Awards event held at Retford Oaks Academy on Friday 7th December. Among the awards they presented was one to Tuxford A Level student Sophie Taylor. She was named ‘Junior Sports Volunteer of the Year’.

England women’s football captain Casey Stoney visited Tuxford Academy for the second time this academic year on Thursday 24th January. Casey, who has more than 100 England caps, came in as part of a Sky Sport initiative to promote sport and physical activity within specific target groups. She was here to check on the progress of ten Year 10 girls who are developing sport leadership activities based on the format of popular television programme, The Cube, for use with Year 7 students. Casey had met the students on her initial visit and she remembered their lack of confidence. “A lot of them didn’t seem to like PE,” she remembered. Since that time the girls have worked together weekly on their project and Casey noticed a difference: “Some have developed a lot in terms of confidence and communication.” During her visit, Casey led workshops to promote teamwork and confidence. One of the girls, Rachel Burton, told us, “Being taught by Casey was really exciting and the whole

experience has been a lot of fun. We could all contribute our opinions and the quieter girls were encouraged to voice their ideas too.” Before departing the England captain praised our students, acknowledging their hard work and the progress made since her first visit. She intends to stay in touch with the project team and to watch video evidence of how their sessions with Year 7 are received. “I have told the students you have to work hard to achieve anything, but everything is possible. I want them to challenge themselves and set goals.” Casey plays for Lincoln so she knows the area well. She told us that she enjoyed her time at Tuxford Academy: “It’s really worthwhile to come here and to be part of these kinds of projects to help teenagers.” The year 10 students involved in the Living for Sport Programme are: Kennedy Barrowclift, Lottie Brammer, Rachel Burton, Ellie Case, Emily Davies, Georgia Elliott, Danielle Hardy, Rosalie Hookings, Alita Lyford and Lauren Wright.

Both Sophie’s parents and brother were able to see her receive the prestigious, engraved glass trophy. Sophie was honoured to receive the award from two of her sporting heroes: “It was very cool meeting Mark Foster. He is something of an icon in the swimming world.” Sophie is an accomplished swimmer herself, competing up to County Championship standard in the past. However, she is now concentrating on coaching. She has worked as a dedicated volunteer coach at Retford Swimming Club for over two and a half years and it was a parent of one of her swimming students who nominated her for the award. To take her coaching further she has successfully gained 2 qualifications: ASA Aquatics Helpers and ASA Level 1 in Aquatics and is aiming to take level 2 in September this year. Sophie is studying A Level Maths, Physics, Graphics and ICT at Tuxford Academy. Although she is considering studying for a non-sporting degree, she hopes that she will be able to continue her coaching whilst at university.

Lucy named Citizen of the Year Lucy Owens is a Sports Leader in school – doing PE as a GCSE subject and focusing on rowing, netball and rounders. Out of school, she is the current Newark and Sherwood District Council Citizen of the Year in the under 25 category.

challenge, volunteers must accumulate 2000 points. Never one to pass up a challenge, Lucy offered her services as a netball coach to the Newark Shooters Netball Club.

It all began in May 2011 when Lucy read a Newark & Sherwood leaflet promoting a sports leadership scheme that awards points for the hours committed. To complete the

One of the coaching skills she learned was that enjoyment is the motivation for practice sessions but winning is the motivation for matches. “They liked to have a laugh during

Lucy has played netball for five years. When she made the offer she played for the Shooters’ Junior Club as centre. The club agreed to let her help coach the U12s and Lucy found that she was good at this and that she enjoyed it. “I gained confidence by coaching - and it made me feel good that I could pass on my knowledge to others.”

training sessions but during matches they were really serious.” Lucy impressed both players and club. Her commitment and hard work was such that she completed the leadership scheme very quickly. She was recognised by the netball club by being named Young Volunteer of the year. James Wheat the Newark & Sherwood Sports Development Officer, says that Lucy was the youngest person to have completed the Council’s sports leadership challenge. Lucy now plays for Lincoln - one of a growing band of Tuxford girls playing netball there. But she is also keen to maintain her links to Newark Shooters. She now helps to coach the ladies team.

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DALP News The Diverse Academies Learning Partnership (DALP) is developing further as each day goes by. We now have four secondary academies in the group and our first primary academy, Tuxford Primary. We are also hoping to be joined by the Holgate School, Hucknall in the next few months - meaning that both Hucknall secondary schools would then be part of our group. All schools retain their individuality, but work together to raise achievements in all academies for the benefit of our students.

2012 and we were delighted when it moved from being satisfactory to good in its latest Ofsted inspection before Christmas. The positive impact of DALP on the outcome of the East Leake inspection was recognised in the Ofsted report.

autumn term culminating in the performance at the Majestic. The event was thoroughly enjoyed by all involved. Last term also saw the first meeting this year of the DALP student parliament and we are currently involved in the appointment of a colleague to co-ordinate DALP student activities and events which provide more opportunities for students across the academies to work with and compete against each other. To find out more information on the partnership visit www.dalp.org.uk

East Leake Academy joined in November

We held an excellent creative arts event in the Majestic Theatre, Retford in December. All DALP academies were represented by more than 200 students performing drama, dance, song and poetry. The students had undertaken a series of workshops during the

DALP Parliament

‘Hopes and Dreams’ Creative Arts Festival

Representatives from Tuxford’s Student Forum attended the third DALP Parliament, at East Leake Academy in the south of the county, on Wednesday 12th December 2012. At that time East Leake Academy (formerly Harry Carlton School) was the newest member of DALP. Mr Baker and Mrs Burton accompanied the students. After a tour of East Leake Academy, conducted by their hosts, the students discussed a number of issues in mixed groups, exchanging views and ideas about dinner sittings, vertical tutoring and school uniform. Part of the aim of the Parliament was to agree on this year’s inter-academy competition. It was agreed to organise an Academy Challenge, a quiz based on the University Challenge format. Initially there would be College Challenge competitions within each Academy, and the winning teams would go through to represent their school at the Academy Challenge. We were not entirely surprised when Mr Baker was identified as a suitable candidate to fill the Jeremy Paxman role! At the close of the Parliament the students were given a very pleasant lunch before they returned to Tuxford in time for lessons in the afternoon.

Over 150 students from the four DALP academies took part in the ‘Hopes and Dreams’ Creative Arts Festival at the Majestic Theatre, Retford on Tuesday 18th December. It proved to be a wonderful introduction to the Christmas festivities. The students from Retford, Hucknall, East Leake and Tuxford performed impressive dance, poetry and musical acts to a packed theatre of parents, VIPs and other school children. The students were specially chosen by each school because they had shown a great enthusiasm for creative arts in school and would benefit from taking part in such a prestigious festival. They worked incredibly hard with professional dance, poetry and music leaders in the run up to the event: rehearsing at lunchtimes, breaks and occasionally after school to learn and

perfect their performances. Poet and funny-man Paul Cookson compèred the event, as well as performing a selection of his witty poetry. Local poet Chris White also entertained everyone with his unique combination of cartoons and schoolboy humour! Chris Pickering, Executive Principal of DALP, was very pleased with the show: “I thoroughly enjoyed it and was so pleased to see so many students involved who would not normally get the chance to take part in such an event in a public venue.” The performers were rewarded for their efforts by a trip to the Nottingham Theatre Royal pantomime, ‘Cinderella’. The DALP Creative Arts festival is just one of a programme of annual activities and events promoted by the DALP team with the aims of celebrating talent within the academy group and maximising opportunities for individual students to interact with others having similar skills.

Diverse Academies Learning Partnership

Celebrating Diversity, Sharing Expertise 14

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The DALP 2012 Games

David Mafullul

To mark the 2012 London Olympic Games, students from the first three DALP academies got together back in October 2011 and devised an interacademies sporting competition.

Originally planned for July 2012, it had to be postponed due to the bad weather conditions of our glorious British summer! The rescheduled Games were held on 2nd October at the Harvey Haddon Sports Arena, near Nottingham. The Games were opened by Mr Pickering, the Executive Principal of DALP, while Councillor Carol Pepper, the Chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council, attended the event throughout the day and awarded the trophy to the winners. Dance troupes from each of the three academies performed the Gold Medals 11-14 Boys Tug of War: Charlie Wells; David Mafullul; Ryan Mellins; Ben Mitchell 14-16 Girls Tug of War: Ella Johnson; Kate Briggs-Price; Maddie Walker; Jess Jackson 11-14 Table Tennis: Scott Evans; George Bartlett; Maisy Whitall; Molly Lillicrap 14-16 Table Tennis: Harry Newman; Gav Binnig; Molly Parker; Charlotte Hind 11-16 Obstacle Course: Zac Casburn; Callum Spink; Dan King; Sophie Dawson; Evie Ashley; Georgia Shearman; Cameron Saville; George Hogg; Toby Sims; Beth Platford; Sarah Thorley; Rosalind Cooper 200m 11-14 Boys: David Mafullul 200m 14-16 Girls: Lauren Gardiner 200m 14-16 Boys: Rory Kyle 400m 11-14 Boys: David Mafullul 800m 11-14 Girls: Chloe Waugh 800m 14-16 Girls: Charlotte Peach 4 x 100m Relay 11-14 Boys: Luke Willers; Dan King; Oliver Hollingsworth; David Mafullul 4 x 100m Relay 14-16 Girls: Lauren Gardiner; Kate Briggs-Price; Charlotte Peach; Beth Platford

opening ceremony with their own specially choreographed routines, based on an Olympic Games theme. Sixty-four students from Tuxford took part, in a series of events as wide-ranging as tugof war, an obstacle race and table tennis, to more traditional track events. Tuxford won gold in both table tennis tournaments, the obstacle course and eight track events, as well as the 11-14 Boys and 14-16 Girls Tug-of-War competitions. Several Tuxford students achieved more than one gold medal, notably Beth Platford, Charlotte Peach, Lauren Gardiner, Kate Briggs-Price and Dan King. But the outstanding performance of the day was by David Mafullul, who achieved four gold medals, one silver and one bronze. Tuxford finished second overall, with a considerable haul of 103 medals, placed neatly between The National CE Academy (1st) and Retford Oaks Academy (3rd). The medal winners from Tuxford are listed below: 4 x 100m Relay 11-14 Girls: Evie Ashley; Samantha Pike; Molly Lillicrap; Danielle Hagland 4 x 100m Relay 14-16 Boys: George Hogg; Cameron O’Neill; Rory Kyle; Harry Newman

Bronze Medals Rowing: Chris Ward; David Mafullul; Ellie Rowing; Maisy Whittall; Oliver Howford; Tom Tucker; Hannah Fletcher-Adams; Lucy Garnett 11-14 Rounders: Josh Barker; Tom Roper; Oliver Hollingsworth; Luke Willers; Jessica Hogg; Chloe Waugh; Daisy Marsh; Molly Lillicrap 100m 14-16 Girls: Lucy Owens 400m 11-14 Girls: Georgia Sherman 400m 11-14 Boys: Oliver Hollingsworth 800m 14-16 Boys: Alex Scott

Support Services Conference 2012 One hundred and forty support staff from all four DALP academies met at East Leake near Loughborough during the September staff training day. It was an opportunity for those travelling from Hucknall, Retford and Tuxford to meet colleagues from East Leake Academy for the first time since their school had officially joined DALP - and an opportunity to look around the first PFI school in Nottinghamshire. The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Celebrating Diversity; Sharing Good Practice’ and the chairman was Terry White who is Director of Support Services at Tuxford. The programme included exhibitions and a guided tour as well as discussion sessions. The chairman explained what he hoped would come out of the conference, “By the end of the day several development ideas had been identified by all the schools and the hope is that these ideas will have been turned into real achievable targets. At Tuxford we will definitely implement some of the good practice that we have discovered in our partner schools.” He was particularly keen to pursue greater employment of P16 students as occurs at East Leake and the use of professionally printed lightweight display banners as used by National. “We have already bought the same laminator that they have at East Leake,” he added, “because it is much better than our old one - and the East Leake connection enabled us to negotiate a price reduction!”

Silver Medals 11-14 Girls Tug of War: Samantha Pike; Libby Khan; Kara Machin; Jessica Hogg 14-16 Boys Tug of War: Tom Tucker; Oliver Howforth; Charlie Wells; David Mafullul 14-16 Rounders: Jacob O’Neill; George Hogg; Alex Scott; Dan Smalley; Laura Duane; Jessica Jackson; Lucy Owens; India Morton 11-16 Boccia: Sam Withall; Chris Ward; Scott Evans; Kerys Phillips; Megan Duffield; Alexandra Rose; Cameron Saville; Harry Newman; Jacob O’Neill; Hannah Ragsdale; Beth Turner; Anne Turner 100m 14-16 Girls: Hannah Fletcher-Adams 200m 11-14 Girls: Chloe Waugh 400m 14-16 Girls: Beth Platford 400m 14-16 Boys: Rory Kyle 800m 11-14 Boys: Chris Ward

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Tel: 01777 870001 Fax: 01777 872155 Email: office@tuxford-ac.org.uk www.tuxford-ac.org.uk Marnham Road Tuxford Newark Nottinghamshire NG22 0JH

Are you a Tuxford Follower? Do we mean Facebook? Do we mean Twitter? No - we mean a Wright’s bus! When Travel Wright, the Newark bus operator, offered Vice Principal Dave Cotton one of its buses as a moveable advertising

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billboard he readily accepted. The offer coincided with a redesign of the school’s advertising, stationery and publications so it would serve as a means of launching the new ‘brand’ to the world (see page 9 for more details).

Pictured is Principal Geoff Lloyd in November showing the moving advert to its three stars, Sidney Bennett Y8, Evie Ashley Y9 and William Ellison Y8. If you should happen to be following the bus whilst driving feel free to give them a friendly wave - but only if it is safe to do so, of course.

designed and produced by dactyl publishing tel: 01427 884998 www.dactylpublishing.com