GHS NEWS GLENTHORNE HIGH SCHOOL: SPECIALIST ARTS COLLEGE Inside this issue: Cake Sales & Modern Mosque Page 2 Year 7 Halloween Disco Page 3 GHS Parent Council Page 4 School Information Page 5 Children in Need Page 6 Sports Page 7 Year Articles Page 8 Christmas Hampers Page 9
December 2009
Futurama: Creative Arts 2009 Glenthorne celebrated the end of the Autumn Term and the run-up to Christmas with its annual Creative Arts Evening. The show proved to be a wonderful climax to a great term and featured over 500 performers, over a hundred of whom were from Glenthorne’s Saturday Arts School ArtsOne. The show featured more than a dozen acts and a fusion of music, dance, drama and film, including a memorable performance by the Jazz Band and our Year 7 choir who sang beautifully and for whom the performance proved a fitting finale to an excellent 1st term. Several sinister Drama sketches warned of a menacing technological future of robots, computers and environmental catastrophe. The audience were captivated by a bravura performance by every single pupil involved: a memorable show which will give staff and parents memories to treasure for years to come, a show we will all look back on with great pride. Thank you to the staff for giving up their time to prepare for the show. Thank you to parents for supporting your children and the school throughout 2009. Congratulations to all the pupils and students involved! We look forward to our forthcoming whole-school production of Joseph and The Technicolor Dream Coat on 8th, 9th and 10th February 2010, We hope to see you all there.
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Children in Need Friday 9th November 2009 Children in Need is Glenthorne’s national charity this year. On Friday 20th November, pupils and staff at the school got into the spirit of Children in Need in an effort to recognise our responsibilities to others and raise money for disadvantaged children: children with disabilities, deprived children and children suffering through distress, abuse or neglect. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day with pupils dressing in mufti: some wearing multicoloured polka dots, others in Pudsey t-shirts, bandanas and face paint! There were a range of fundraising activities based on the theme of ‘doing something different’ including cake sales, face and nail painting, cream-cracker eating competitions, table climbing, hoopla competitions, tombolas and a whole lot more! By the end of the day, we had raised £1,750 and sent off our cheque to Children in Need. Thank you to all that contributed!
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Cake and Badge Sale for Children In Need To raise money for Children In Need, we decided to create something original and interesting to sell. As we are students who enjoy art and textiles, we chose to make badges to sell to the school. We spoke to our textiles teacher and we came up with Pudsey bear designs to make into badges. Our first problem was where to find fabric that we could make into badges. We decided to write to a local company and ask for some off-cuts of fabric. We wrote them a letter with the school letter heading and sent it off. A few days later, they contacted the school to say that they were happy to help out. We had our fabric and were ready to start designing and making. We had one week in which to design and make our badges for the Friday deadline. Once we had our designs ready, we started making them with the help of, Ms Degiorgio and Mrs Price and a few of our friends helping us with the sewing. We produced lots and lots of badges between us. Alongside the badges, we made cakes, and brought chocolates in to sell too. Again our friends helped out on the day of the sale as we had so many people at our stall. The sale was very successful and we managed to raise ÂŁ110 for children in Need and had the pleasure of seeing people in our badges all day long, even some of the teachers!
Morden Mosque On 22nd November I was invited to an Open Day at Morden Mosque. Following a tour of the stunning grounds, I was given an insight into the meaning behind the Muslim faith and shown the vast prayer room which holds up to four thousand people at any one time. I was interested to see that the room is plain white; the idea being that when praying, Muslims like to reflect on their own thoughts and not be distracted by pictures or statues. I then listened to a talk aimed at educating people about the Muslim faith. It was clear that all the people worshipping at this mosque believed in peace and respect. We were invited to ask questions and several people questioned the speakers about topics such as extremists. The opinion was given that anyone committing an act of terrorism cannot be a Muslim because they would not be following The Holy Qu’ran. After the talk, I was treated to a feast of delicious food, including sweet rice with sultanas and almonds which I had never tried before. I was made to feel very welcome and was struck by the overwhelming sense of community at the Mosque. The doors of the mosque are always open to anyone who wishes to visit. Mrs Monks Head of Year 7
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Halloween disco is here! D....I....S....C....O. It was the first time that all Year 7 were in the hall to meet up with friends then get down for some dancing to ‘YMCA’. Then time for more up-to-date songs like ‘Holiday’ by Dizzy Rascal. At first, one person did not have any friends so I showed him my friends and introduced him to them and we are all friends now! He also had the same costume as me so he fitted in with me and two other people who had the same costume. Unfortunately they did not play my favourite song which is Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’. However, the music was still excellent and we all had fun dancing for two hours. By the end of it we were all exhausted so we could not dance any more. So it was time to announce the winners of the best costume, which Rebecca Jensen (7C) won with a home-made duck costume which was good. By Dean Fincham – 7S
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GHS Parent Councils are still going strong. The Parent Councils meet each half-term. The meetings are designed to ensure there is a parental voice present within the school and function on several levels; the meetings have a focus on learning as well allowing parents to network and meet formally to share ideas as well as occasional worries. At the first meeting of this academic year parents discussed in small groups their top tips for success as highlighted below: Organise bags, uniform, PE kit etc the night before Write music lessons/extra-curricular activities/matches and fixtures etc in planner Letters and forms from school kept in one place. Check bags regularly for forms and letters Do homework asap and as soon as child arrives home to avoid build up. Complete homework when set. Post-it-notes/stickers in children’s bedrooms for handy reminders Ask more specific questions about their school day but pick your moment to ask – when they are relaxed and have time to answer Help them with time management Ensure there is a quiet place to complete homework Get up with enough time to eat breakfast Get enough sleep Limit time on computer/TV/MSN and time spent with friends Engage in extra-curricular activities Encourage suitable peer/friendship group Show interest in what they do Encourage your child to ask questions After-school routine – list on the fridge Have an evening where you sign the planner and ask questions relating to what you read in the planner A large notice board for all information Up and coming events on phone and wall calendar If you are interested in joining the Parent Council please contact Ms McLaren to be added to the mailing list: LMN@glenthorne.sutton.sch.uk 0208 644 6307 ext 276 Dates of future Parent Council meetings: Thursday 10th December 6pm Monday 1st February 6pm Monday 22nd March 6pm Monday 10th May 6pm Monday 7th June Fundraising event
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Home Access programme Home Access is the new Government programme which will help to ensure that more children in England have access to technology at home to support learning. Eligible low-income families (eligibility is based on the criteria for free school meals) with learners in Years 3 to 9 will be able to apply for a grant to buy a computer and internet package. Families will be able to apply directly to a central body for their grant, so schools can make a choice as to their level of involvement. The programme, which is being delivered by Becta, will benefit over 270,000 households, and families should apply from January 2010. Because some learners will need additional support, assistive technology will also be available under the programme.
At Glenthorne, we have signed up for a great new collection scheme that could provide the school with hundreds of new books for our Learning Resources Centre and we would like your help! Books for Schools tokens are appearing every day in The Times and The Sunday Times; the school can exchange these tokens for free books of our choice from a catalogue of 170 titles. Please collect as many tokens as you can and give to your child to bring into school. With your help, this could make a real difference to our library, ensuring that we have access to some of the very best titles available to encourage pupils to read and improve their literacy.
Old Coursework Books Do you have any Coursework books or Revision Guides you no longer require? Would you be willing to give them to the school? We would be pleased to accept any coursework books you have had to purchase for your son/daughter which could benefit other families. If you have any such books, please send them to Mrs. Wooldridge in the LRC who will give them to the relevant Subject Leaders to pass on for a donation. Many thanks Mrs. Wooldridge
Cheques Now that we accept payments for trips, school uniform, books, school meals and anything you need to purchase by ParentPay, debit and credit card, we will be gradually reducing payments by cheque. We will stop accepting cheques on 1st April2010.
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SPORTS
GHS NEWS
The Carshalton Athletic Football Academy has begun its first year at Glenthorne High School, 25 boys have started the Sixth Form in the hope of pursuing a career in semiprofessional football. All of the boys are taking a BTEC L3 course in sport as well as one other option. The first season in the Conference Youth Alliance is proving very challenging as the boys who are all in the U17 age group are competing against opposition in a U19 league. The boys have shown improvment in their technical ability and game play thanks to excellent coaching and advice from coaches Ian Hazel and Barry Wilde. So far, the team have lost games to Woking, Wycombe Wanderers, Crawley Town and Bromley. They have drawn against both AFC Wimbledon and St Albans as well as beating Wealdstone 3-1 and Borehamwood 3-0. Some of the boys have been asked to train with the men's first team and have been selected in the squad including Louis Chin who joined the school from Woodcote who made his semi-professional debut recently. George Beaver is one player who has been at Glenthorne since Y7 and has been identified as the most improved in the academy squad, Charlie Anderson who joined form Raynes Park has shown an excellent attitude in training and a special mention to Shepherd Ambonasom who travels into school from Sussex every day to be part of the programme. Preparations for next year are already underway and the next academy trials are scheduled for Monday 21st December at Kinston University Sports Ground in Tolworth. P.Summers Subject Leader in PE/Academy Head
U18 Boys basketball Glenthorne entered the U18 Surrey basketball league for the first time, the league started with narrow defeats to Epsom College and Wimbledon College but has since improved with victories over Hollyfield 34-33, Richard Challenor 40-17 and Carshalton Sports College 38-27. The squad consists of Isaac Davis, Carl Day, Carl Taylor, Joseph Boakye, Josh Turner, Delarney Ewerse, Jonathon Jude, Lewis Jackson, Charlie Clark Gleeve, Luke Badiali and Kurt Glading. U18 Boys football The U18 boys started the season with a narrow 2-0 defeat to a strong Riddlesdown, not helped by a missed penalty from the captain! The season has since gone from strength to strength with wins against Carshalton 4-1, Howard of Effingham 4-2, Westgate 3-1 and a 3-2 win against last years champions Archbishop Tenison’s in which Goalkeeper Peter James made a great penalty save. School captain Nick Ford has also been picked to represent Surrey and captained the county in a recent win against Dorset. U15 Boys football The Y10 season got off to bad start with defeat to Ashcombe in the Surrey Cup, the team were missing several key players that day and further injuries to Courtney Asiedu, Bobby Price and Tommy Marshall have weakened the side. The squad has pulled to together and won every game without conceding a goal beating Coombe 7-0, Royal Liberty 3-0, Cheam 5-0, Greenshaw 7-0 and Sutton Grammar 1-0. Charlie Craig, Bobby Price, Spencer Cridlin and Jack Diggins have all been selected for the Surrey U15 football squad.
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On the 18th November 2009, Year Seven went to Guildford to see a wonderful theatre production of ‘Skellig’. As soon as we got to school, we went to registration, then boarded the coach. When we got to the theatre, we were given our tickets. As we all took our seats, the teachers did a quick count up to see if they had lost anyone, which of course they hadn't! When the curtains were opened, silence filled the whole theatre. ‘Skellig’ is about a boy called Michael. His mum is expecting a baby, so they move into a bigger house which his dad thinks is fantastic. Although Michael likes the new house he can’t help wanting to go into the garage. When he finally goes into the garage, he finds someSkellig at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre one - more like something. He tells his friend Mina and they both go to look at this creature. When Mina finally sees him, he stands up and shouts "I AM SKELLIG". After that, the interval broke the silence. During the interval we went to the toilet, ate sweets, had lunch and drinks. As soon as the second half started silence filled the theatre again. All in all, everyone had a great day and I’m sure everyone would watch it again. It was a fantastic production and the pupils and teachers loved the whole performance. Many thanks to all staff for looking after us all and a very big thank-you to all of the drama teachers for organising this brilliant trip for year 7. Alice Thistleton 7G The performance was shown the year before to the school during Anti-Bullying Week and received lots of positive feedback. A year later, we were asked to perform the piece at an ‘Anti-Homophobic Bullying Conference’ in which important senior members of the community were present. This was a very successful performance and we were congratulated for our efforts with certificates and lots of biscuits!! We are now looking forward to performing this again at the John Fisher School in the future. We would like to thank Miss Shuter for all of her efforts in directing the piece and organising all of our performances.
On Friday 20th November, a group of selected drama students from Year 8 to 10 went to the Glastonbury Centre to perform a piece of drama based on the theme of ‘Homophobia’. The piece is based on a young girl name Sarah (played by Natalie Rumbelow) who is being picked on and bullied in school. She is unable to speak to anyone about the issue including her teachers and her own sister. This is based over a week and tragically on Friday she commits suicide. This is a very powerful ending and an extremely serious issue. We had to show the sometimes extreme effects that bullying can have as we By Natalie Thomas 10G really wanted our audience to understand just how painful it can be when you do not
Year 11 RS Visit Y11 RS pupils recently welcomed Funeral Director, Mr Stephen Lapper, into their classroom for a discussion on funeral rites. Mr Lapper answered questions posed by the pupils and shared his many years of experiences; including celebrity and military funerals, coffins in the shape of guitars and a medley of unusual musical tributes. All those involved were confident that the visit had provided a valuable insight and deeper understanding of their GCSE topic, ‘Death and the Afterlife’. GCSE student Hayley Catchpole said, ‘I thought the visit was very interesting and overall I learnt a lot.’ Our thanks go to Mr Lapper for kindly giving up his time. Mrs Gillam, RS Teacher
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Christmas Hampers Glenthorne has been giving Christmas hampers to Senior Citizens in the local area for over ten years now. It has become an important tradition at the school that we support elderly people in our community at Christmas. The tradition has grown stronger over the last few years with pupils bringing in thousands of items to make up over a hundred hampers. Many of the elderly who receive the hampers are over 90 years old, many are housebound or disabled and the hampers bring them great pleasure. It often makes their Christmas to know that we have made an effort and care for them. Particular congratulations to 7T (Ms Prosbik’s form) who made up 22 hampers!
PRIVACY NOTICE for Pupils in Schools, Early Years Settings, Alternative Provision and Pupil Referral Units Privacy Notice – Data Protection Act 1998 We, Glenthorne High School, are the Data Controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act. We collect information about your son/daughter, and may receive information about him/her from their previous school. We hold this personal data and use it to: support your son/daughter’s teaching and learning; monitor and report on his/her progress; provide appropriate pastoral care, and assess how well the school is doing as a whole. This information includes your contact details, national curriculum assessment results, attendance information, characteristics such as ethnic group, special educational needs and any relevant medical information. We will not give information about you to anyone outside the school without your consent unless the law and our rules permit it. We are required by law to pass some of your information to the Local Authority (LA), and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). Connexions Services For pupils aged 13 or over, the school is legally required to pass on certain information to the Connexions Services. Connexions is the government’s information and advice service for all young people aged 13 to 19 in England. We must provide both your own and your son/daughter’s name(s) and address(es), and any further information relevant to the Connexions Services’ role. However, parents/carers or the pupils themselves, if aged 16 or over, can ask that no information beyond name and address be passed to Connexions. Please inform Miss Tuffey if you wish to opt-out of this arrangement. For more information about Connexions, please contact the LA as shown below. If you want to see a copy of the information we hold and share about you then please contact Miss Tuffey. If you require more information about how the LA and/or DCSF store and use this data, please go to the following websites: http://www.sutton.gov.uk/index.aspx?artcleid=3398 and http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/doc/13856/DCSF20what% 20we%20do%20with%20Children’s%20data%20v4%20final.doc If you are unable to access these website, please contact the LA or the DCSF as follows: London Borough of Sutton Children, Young People and Learning Service The Grove, Carshalton Surrey SM5 2LW Website: www.sutton.gov.uk
Public Communications Unit Department for Children, Schools and Families Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street London, SW1P 3BT Website: www.dcsf.gov.uk e-mail: infor@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk Tel: 0870 000 2288
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GHS NEWS
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY ADVANCE NOTICE:
Glenthorne High School Sutton Common Road Sutton Surrey SM3 9PS Phone: 020 8644 6307 Fax: 020 8641 8725 E-mail: glenthorne@suttonlea.org
Could parents please note the dates for the academic year 2009/10. Please avoid booking holidays in term time. All holidays taken in term time will be classed as unauthorised absence. TERM DATES 2009/2010 SPRING TERM : Monday 4th January 2010 to Thursday 1st April 2010 Half Term: Monday 15th to Friday 19th February 2010 SUMMER TERM : Half Term :
Monday 19th April 2010 to Tuesday 22nd July 2010 Monday 31st May 2010 to Friday 4th May 2010
STAFF PROFESSIONAL DAYS Monday 4th January 2010 Friday 25th June 2010 KEY DATES 4th January 2010: 5th January 2010: 15th January 2010: 27th January 2010: 3rd February 2010: 8th-10th February 2010: 24th February 2010: 10-11th March 2010: 17th March 2010: 25th March 2010: 31st March 2010:
INSET Day (Pupils not required to attend) First day of Spring Term for all pupils: 8.30am start Year 11 Mock Exam Result Ceremony Year 11 Parents & Subject Staff 4.30-7.30pm Year 7 Parents & Subject Staff 4.30-7.30pm Whole School Production of Joseph Year 11 Revision Evening 6.00-7.00pm Gym Show Year 9 Choices Evening 6.00-8.00pm Spring Concert Year 10 Parents & Subject Staff 4.30-7.30pm
AN ADVANCE NOTICE: Could parents please note the dates for the academic year 2010/11. Please avoid booking holidays in term time. All holidays taken in term time will be classed as unauthorised absence. TERM DATES 2010/2011 AUTUMN TERM : Half Term :
Wednesday 1st September 2010 to Friday 17th December 2010 Monday 25th to Friday 29th October 2010
SPRING TERM : Half Term:
Tuesday 4th January 2011 to Friday 8th April 2011 Monday 21st to Friday 25th February 2011
SUMMER TERM : Half Term :
Tuesday 26th April 2011 to Friday 22nd July 2011 Monday 30th May 2011 to Friday 3rd June 2011
Best Wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our parents and pupils. We wish you all a relaxing break and look forward to seeing all pupils again at 8.30am on 5th January 2010!