Knutsford News Issue 3

July 2022 - Issue 3

Year 11 and 13 Celebrate in Style

Year 11 had a fabulous evening celebrating their end of year Prom. They all dressed to impress and made quite an entrance in an assortment of cars, limos and even a truck! The sun shone and an amazing night was had by all. Congratulations to the class of 2022; we are very proud of your hard work and resilience. We would like to wish you all lots of luck for the start of your next chapter.

Miss Hilditch and the Year 11 team.

Year 13 students and staff celebrated the end of the school year with a glamorous Valedictory Ball. It was a fantastic event, providing an opportunity for students to celebrate their achievements and mark the end of a very successful and productive year. Sarah Kirkham, Head of Sixth Form (Academy) and event organiser, praised the students for “their hard work, academic success and overall achievements.’

Celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee We welcomed a visit from the mayor of Knutsford, Councillor Mike Houghton, to plant trees at Bexton Road and Westfield Drive as part of the ‘Queen’s Green Canopy’ initiative to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee.

Our Year 7 Art Club also produced some excellent art work to mark the occasion which was then proudly displayed in Knutsford.

Rewards

Our students have continued to be rewarded this term through the use of merits and our Star of the Week initiative. Well done to all our ‘Stars’, they have been entered into a draw to win a fantastic prize from our very generous sponsors.

Enrichment Modern Foreign Languages

Year 12 students in MFL have successfully achieved a Languages Leader qualification. Year 7 successfully used their language skills to participate in a Petanque tournament.

Maths

At the end of April, more than 70 students from Year 7 and 8 took part in the Junior Maths Challenge. Three students, Jake Sullivan, Daniel Oakes and Charlie Flynn, were all awarded Gold certificates. There are also 11 Silver and 25 Bronze Certificate winners. This photograph shows Charlie Flynn who is a Gold Certificate winner and was Best in School. Thank you to everyone who took part.

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Science

Our Team of Year 9 pupils; Oliver Wall, Meredith Banks, Zara Bowes, and Charlie Norbury, competed at the Grange’s STEM Olympics. They had to complete several challenges including firing a rocket at a target (which they hit dead centre), solving a murder mystery and dissecting a rat!

They did exceptionally well, coming 4th out of 20 teams from schools across the region.

Ecology and Science Club

This term, Science Club have explored thermochromatic paper and making lava lamps. Ecology Club have undertaken chromatography using plant pigments, participated in snail racing and dissected some owl pellets. We are also very excited to announce the birth of a baby stick insect!

British Physics Olympiad Junior Physics Challenge In May, 190 students across Years 9 and 10 completed the National Junior Physics Challenge competition.

This competition encourages students to engage in an assortment of physics problems, using ideas that they have learned in school, including looking for clues and eliminating unlikely candidates.

127 students achieved a bronze medal, 33 students achieved a silver medal and 11 achieved a gold medal – placing them in the top 16% nationally.

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Enrichment – Trips and Visits Modern Foreign Languages

In May half-term, students in Years 8 and 9 visited Paris to experience French culture and practice their French language skills. It was a trip that was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

STEM in Action

51 students attended a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) in Action event in which they were able to deepen their understanding of Science and Maths through talks on ‘Wildlife – Caught on Camera’, ‘How to freeze a human’ and ‘Swimming the English Channel.’

Duke of Edinburgh

Well done to over 140 students who have participated in the Duke of Edinburgh scheme this year. In June, 66 Year 9 students achieved their Bronze Assessment – congratulations!

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Cheshire Studio School Studio Alumni Breakfast Event

This month we ran our first alumni event for past Cheshire Studio Students. We invited students to come into school, meet with each other and staff to discuss their achievements since leaving Cheshire Studio School. We have UK sporting champions, Higher Education students, apprentices and full-time workers within the alumni – working locally and further afield doing fantastic things. We are extremely proud of them all and are already looking forward to future Alumni events next term.

Studio to Success – Our Transition Programme Our new Studio Transition program has taken place this term for our year 9 students. Our aim has been to deliver a range of engaging opportunities to help students successfully prepare for the next two years on their vocational pathways, core GCSE courses and work experience placement.​ Students have had career aspiration interviews, a work experience presentation and guidance, practical and classroom taster sessions in construction and hospitality and additional revision sessions to help them prepare for their Year 9 exams in core subjects. We have also hosted the ‘Royal Navy – Master Chef event’ which supported our focus on careers. Year 10 Studio students in both construction and hospitality have been working closely with our new cohort and it has been wonderful to see them positively reinforce practical and classroom routines and behaviour, share their knowledge and develop their own leadership skills as part of the Studio transition.​

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Sport at Knutsford Athletics

Students have taken part in Macclesfield & District and English School Athletics competitions over the summer term. Well done to Jess Randell-Smith, Sam Pearce, Seb Valentine, Xav Smith, Daniel (pictured left) and Ben Stainsby who finished in the top two of their events and were then selected to represent Macclesfield at the Cheshire Schools’ AA Track and Field Championships. Xav went on to finish second in the high jump at the Inter Counties competition against Merseyside and Dan won the 1500m.

Seb is currently in training for his National Schools Competition.

Rounders

Students in Years 7 - 10 have enjoyed their first rounders fixtures since 2019! We have played against Alderley Edge, Fallibroome, Macclesfield Academy, Eaton Bank and Bridgewater High and enjoyed several victories.

Can they carry on their winning ways against the staff team?!

Football Festival

Year 7 and 8 students took part in the Moss Farm Football Festival.

The students were fantastic and produced some excellent performances. Year 7 finished undefeated and Year 8 only lost one game! Well done to all involved.

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Rowing

Students from Year 8 have attended Northwich Rowing Club every Friday as part of their Youth Rowing Programme.

On Wednesday 6th July they attended Warrington Rowing Club to compete in a sprint regatta against all the other Youth Rowing teams from across Northwich, Warrington and Liverpool. The students were able to demonstrate their fantastic hard work over the last 12 months with great teamwork, resilience and determination. Team A finished in 5th position over all and team B finished in 2nd spot just being pipped to the post by 0.8 seconds. A great afternoon was had by all and it was brilliant that they got to show off their new skills in front of family and friends.

Sports Tour – Holland

The PE Department took Year 8 and 9 on a Sports Tour to Holland over May half term. We had a fantastic time. During our stay we visited the Johan Cruijff Arena for a stadium tour, went bowling, trained on the beach and played six football fixtures and two rugby matches over the course of the five days. We finished the tour unbeaten!

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Performing Arts

The summer term production of Matilda sold out across all performances from Wednesday 13th to Saturday 16th July. Over 50 students from Years 7 - 10 took part, with many performing for the first time on the Bexton Road stage. Congratulations to all students and staff involved on such a fantastic achievement.

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