ACADEMY Life The official magazine of Tuxford Academy
Issue No. 11
Spring Term 2018
Friendly faces await any student who needs someone to talk to at Smile Club
Is Big Brother watching you? Why we are constantly asking our students what career they may like to do Follow us on Twitter: @TuxfordAcademy or Facebook: /TuxfordAcademy
Welcome to Academy Life Academy Principal’s Introduction The end of the autumn term saw some of our Year 7 - 9 students take to the stage in their performance of ‘Scrooge,’ and what a delight it was! Every year when I sit and watch the huge summer shows, I wonder what will happen to the future of them when our talented actors leave. Then I watch productions like ‘Scrooge’ and am blown away at the new talent that has arrived at the academy. I look forward to watching our young actors continue to flourish and am already excited to see ‘Les Misérables’ in the summer term. The final week of term also saw us host our Post 16 Awards Evening, where last year’s leavers return from wherever in the world they have gone to (the world of work, gap years, apprenticeships, university, performing arts colleges, etc.) to celebrate their tremendous achievements from throughout their time in Post 16. It was a lovely evening and I felt incredibly proud of how much they have already accomplished since leaving us. Now, onto this term. Day to day life at Tuxford is always busy, focussed and geared towards helping our students achieve their very best. This term, however, is always the one in the year when examination groups really put their heads down and focus on the countdown to GCSEs and A Levels. With the mocks in January providing a realistic taster of what’s
to come in the summer, and an evening geared towards providing information about how parents can best help their children prepare, I have certainly noticed an increased level of focus. After school, when I walk around the academy, I see students sitting revising (both with teachers in structured sessions and in designated areas where they work with their peers) and realise how committed they really are to doing their best. Finally, I would like to extend my sympathy, on behalf of Tuxford Academy, to the family of Dave Whitehead. Sadly, Dave passed away over Christmas, but we will always remember him here for the kind, funny man he was. Dave worked at Tuxford for over 34 years, initially as the farm manager and then as a site manager, and after retirement still regularly returned to visit, usually laden down with eggs for staff. He will be sorely missed in the local community and at Tuxford. Mr Dave Vernon, Principal
Dates for your diary JUNE
MARCH 30th
Good Friday - Easter break begins
4th
Back to school after Half Term break
30th
Ski trip departs
9th - 10th
D of E practice expedition 2
12th
Parent Steering Group Meeting
20th
Year 10 Progress Evening
APRIL 16th
Summer Term begins
25th
Year 7 Academic Tutorials week
16th
Year 10 Academic Tutorials week
26th
Post 16 Taster Day
16th
KS3 exam week (provisional)
28th
Year 11 Prom
28th - 29th
D of E practice expedition 1
29th
Post 16 Summer Ball
30th
Year 10 mock exams week
JULY
MAY
2nd
Year 6 Transition Week
11th
Year 11 Smart Day
5th
Sports Celebration Evening
14th
GCSE and A Level exams start
7th - 8th
D of E qualifying expedition 1
28th
May Half Term break begins
11th - 14th
‘Les Misérables’ performances
Many thanks to all students and staff who contributed towards articles.
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We went for gold but exceeded by achieving platinum The Investors in People award is an internationally recognised accreditation that organisations can apply for in order to identify themselves as establishments who put their staff at the core. Being awarded at any level is a sign of leadership who strive to make their institution a great place to work. It recognises where there is a clear commitment to sustaining morale, continually motivating, and cultivating the desire for high performance amongst employees. We are thrilled to announce that we have been awarded platinum – a feat that only 1% of all organisations who apply for the award achieve. Having already attained the core IIP accreditation, two years ago Tuxford Academy began the process of preparing for re-assessment in 2017 in the hope of achieving gold. The first steps were to generate an online self-assessment and then work with a practitioner. A working party met regularly to do self-review projects in preparation for the assessment. Staff were also asked to complete an
News
online assessment of 40 questions, to collect data and test alignment against the standards we were aiming to meet. In June 2017 we had two and a half days with the assessor in the academy, attending meetings and interviewing over 20 staff of varying positions. From the start of the report, where it states that ‘there is no doubt that Tuxford Academy is a great place to work,’ it is clear that the assessors were impressed with the ethos here. The summary states that whilst here, the assessors believed that ‘people felt empowered to make decisions, drive change and embrace innovation. Opportunities to learn, develop, grow and shine were proactively encouraged and managed, working to people’s strengths, talents and interests.’ We couldn’t be prouder of our achievement. Investing in our staff is incredibly important to us; we have such high quality people working at Tuxford Academy that we continually strive to make it a place where they feel valued and supported.
Academy Life
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News
Tuxford students host the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain Over the Christmas holidays, a group of 14 students hosted a pre-concert reception for around 200 teenagers as part of the National Our NYO Young Promoters! Youth Orchestra of Great Britain’s Winter Tour.There were two parts to this: visiting their Winter Residency at Nottingham University, and planning, preparing and hosting the pre-concert on the day. First of all, we went to the University of Nottingham to meet some of the members of the NYO. We were lucky enough to watch the clarinetists practising in their sectorial and the entire brass section practising with the conductor, Sir Mark Elder (renowned conductor of the Hallé orchestra). Later on in the day, we got the opportunity to interview him, as well as Daisy Evans, director of the opera, and Lili, a cellist from the NYO. We made a film out of this, which was shown at the pre-concert event. To round the day off, we watched the full orchestra rehearse. It was only the second day of the residency when we visited and already it was amazing! It was clear that the musicians put a lot of hard work and dedication in, and it definitely paid off! On the day of the reception, Mr Evason, Head of Music, drove us to the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall.We were not the only young promoters there, as there were some from Trinity
School too.We made some good friends, and had a lot of fun. We all chose a job to do during the day. For some people this was hosting the pre-concert event, for others it was handing out flyers and selling tickets in Nottingham itself.Throughout the course of the day we rehearsed, filmed, set up music playlists, sold tickets, collected food, prepared the space, set up tables, connected videos to whiteboards, ordered pizza and made memories that will last a lifetime! The pre-concert went really well, and it was the biggest one that the NYO had done so far. It began with food and the opportunity to mingle with other guests, and then the trombone section played three pieces.This was followed by a trio of NYO musicians who played a short Hungarian folk piece. After that we showed the films that we’d made the week before and interviewed four of the musicians.The reception finished off with a photo and then we all took our seats for the concert. “It was a privilege to be involved and be immersed in what the orchestra does. Seeing how they are every-day teenagers like us was very inspiring because I could be like them. The food was great too!” Daisy Stringfellow,Year 12. “It was really good to be able to hear about the experiences of real members of the NYO, and it has inspired me to carry on with music and maybe even join an orchestra.” Jamie Kirkland, Year 10. Hannah Barnett, Post 16 A rehearsal of ‘Bluebeard’s Castle’. The stage and concert hall are illuminated bright red.
25 years of service This year marks the 25th year working at Tuxford for Sue Footit, our exams officer, and Hazel Newstead, administration assistant. Both ladies started in office administrator roles and throughout their time with us have worked in many different areas. Hazel has been our website administrator, a receptionist, and PA to the headteacher, to name
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a few. Sue began as a clerical typist and has since worked with progress and data before her current role, where she looks after everything to do with exams – a job that certainly reqires a lot of patience and organisation! We are incredibly grateful for how hard they work and know that Tuxford Academy would not be the same without them.
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Academy Focus
Educating Year 9 about staying safe Pint Size Theatre Company came into school on 12th December to deliver a performance and workshop to all Year 9 students about why and how young people can make positive interventions to protect themselves and their peers from the risk of internet and real life child sexual exploitation. It is currently funded by Nottinghamshire County Council and is supported by Nottinghamshire Police. The session involved a 50 minute play, where all parts were played by just two actors, followed by an interactive forum theatre workshop. The play explores why young people should make positive interventions to protect themselves and their peers/friends from the risk of internet and real life child sexual exploitation (CSE). Its aim is to encourage the development of coping and avoidance strategies in relation to real and perceived risk, as well as highlighting pathways to advice and support. Sue Jonson, Work Related Learning Leader, said, “I can’t praise it enough. It was extremely powerful and thought provoking. It really does help students to become aware/be more aware of CSE and how to develop strategies to keep themselves and others safe. If I had my way it would be compulsory viewing for all students in schools.” Overall, students felt that they could take something away from the day, even if they already had a good understanding of child sexual exploitation already. One girl told us: “It helped to be reminded that people can lie – for example about their age. Even though it seems obvious to me now, I’d never really thought about it as a possibility. I had assumed I’d know if I was communicating with someone older.”
The opening scene from ‘LUVU2’ with Connor Bailey as Callum and Jess Wheeler as Lucy
Who are our governors? Every school has a team of governors, yet often parents can be unsure of their exact role. Essentially, governors have three key roles within a school: 1. Setting the school’s vision, ethos and strategic direction 2. Holding the senior leaders to account for the educational performance of the school and its students 3. Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent As well as having external governors, each governing body also has teacher and parent representatives so that people with a range of different perspectives and experiences can offer challenge and support to senior leaders in the academy. At Tuxford, we have 12 governors, all with a range of backgrounds and expertise. Reverend Greg Price is our Chair of Governors and regularly comes into school to give assemblies and attend evening events. Whilst also meeting as a complete governing body throughout the course of the
year, there are also two sub-committees focussing on educational outcomes as well as finance and resources. Individual governors also have specific areas of responsibility (portfolios) within the academy: for example, we have faculty link governors and a safeguarding governor.
Reverend Greg Price, our Chair of Governors
To find out more about our governors, please visit our website where you can learn a bit more about their backgrounds. If you ever need to contact them then please do not hesitate to do so through Jane Stock: jstock@dalp.org.uk
Academy Life
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Academy Focus
Stay safe online The Digital Leaders programme was first introduced by Childnet - a charity aiming to make the internet a safer place for all.To become Digital Leaders, we completed modules that allowed us to inform and advise students about e-safety and we exist to ensure that our peers are educated about how to stay safe online. We are a group of students who feel passionate about giving our peers support and helping to make online safety effective and fun.We also aim to empower students through digital creativity whilst showing them that the internet doesn’t have to be a dangerous place. Recently, two of our leaders took a trip to an event in London called ‘House of Us’ which was run by Facebook. Here, they met other Digital Leaders from across the country and took part in many activities to help put themselves into the shoes of a person who is experiencing trouble online.This has enabled the leaders to further their knowledge so that they can help more students within our school. If ever you find that you are facing problems online, we are here to help. Just look around the academy for our Digital Leaders’ badges if ever you need a friendly face to talk to. Iesha Smith and Ellie Ford-Simms,Year 11
When you need a friendly face Smile is a small group of students who help support people who feel like they need someone to chat to. We are an inclusive group of people with strengths in different topics, but all know that we want to help others. We don’t judge and always respect everyone’s point of view.
where students can post a little note if they feel they would like some help/support from one of us, or even if they just have a quick question. Alternatively, students can chat to any of us around school; we can be easily identified as we wear blue smiley face badges on our lapels.
As a group, we work closely with Tuxford Pride and the Digital Leaders to expand our knowledge on how to help and support different types of people. Miss Leaning also works with Smile to help input new ideas and ways in which the group can be improved. One way we have made changes this year is that there is now a box at each college reception
Previously, Smile was known as the Anti-Bullying Ambassadors, however we felt that it shouldn’t be a group for only people who are being bullied - it should be a group who help and support everyone, no matter what problems you may/may not face. Anabel Lilburn,Year 10
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Academy Focus
Is Big Brother watching you? During the autumn term, we asked each of our students what kind of career they are interested in and also what their plans are at Post 16/Post 18. But why do we do this? Surely it isn’t tremendously important if a Year 7 or 8 doesn’t know what they want to do in five or more years’ time and what on earth do we do with all the data we collect from 1543 students? The data helps us to provide bespoke Careers Advice and Guidance to our students. We use it to identify all students with a particular career interest, even if it is currently just a career they are thinking about. We then target these students with information about specific careers when we receive it. For example, last year we were able to mail shot 14 students in Years 10, 11 and 13 who had identified medicine as a potential interest, with information about a National Medic Mentor weekend. Following this, three of our Year 13 students successfully secured places to study medicine in September. It also means we can inform students when we have visitors from the world of work coming in at lunchtime so they can get first-hand information about what a particular career is really like. The data helps us to identify at an early stage students who have no clear pathway ideas, enabling us to provide early CEIAG intervention to support students beginning to consider possible career interests and routes to achieving these. We are now using an extremely effective careers program called which is being rolled out to all students and is also something that can prompt valuable discussions at home. We introduced to Year 11
students in December on Curriculum Day and will sign up Key Stage Three students during the spring term. This data also highlights the students who have a clear vision of the career path they wish to follow and allows us to support them with any applications they are making. can also be used at home free of charge. Parents and carers can sign up for an account in their own name. For more information about this and how to register, please see: https://www.startprofile.com Sue Johnson MCDI,Work Related Learning Leader @TuxfordCEIAG
Why do some students get to go on university trips whilst others don’t?
Find out in the next issue about the selection process used to identify which students are invited on some university visits and how we try to ensure all students get opportunities to experience the different career pathways that are available.
Students get coursework advice from local business Leonard Design Architects have offered a lot help in the past to students doing their product design A Level. This year, a group of Post 16 students went along to get help with the design element of their coursework and Luke Pearce told us about his personal experience of the day. Luke’s coursework brief is to re-design the interior of the shop Size? As part of the process he has been offered feedback from both the company he is designing for and Leonard Design Architects, something he is really appreciative of as he said: “It’s a chance to get a feel of what real life feedback is and makes the project feel more important and realistic.” “I found the whole visit so helpful. I want to be an architect so to get first-hand experience in a real studio was really great!” Academy Life
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Charity
A Child’s Dream “…because every child has a dream, a dream of having a home, a dream of having a family, a dream of having an education, a dream of being clean and, most of all, a dream of being loved and accepted”
Vis de Copil (A Child’s Dream) is a non-profit charity in Arad, Romania, which provides basic education, food, clothing, medical assistance, love and care for the most vulnerable street children in Arad, Romania. Rose Chalmers Davies,Year 9, has been visiting and volunteering at the drop in centre of A Child’s Dream annually since 2013.Whilst there she has participated in activities including: showing children how to colour, mending chairs, cleaning, leading group activities, giving out food at the forest picnics and generally loving the children and watching them learn new skills doing craft activities etc. Rose and her mother also visit a few of the local schools to do some basic English.
Rose wanted to do some fundraising for the children and in November decided that for her adoption party she would request no presents; Rose felt she already has enough, and would prefer people to contribute donations to the Vis de Copil charity. In total, Rose raised £460 to send to the charity for new school books and craft activities. In her speech, she mentioned that she knows these children have little yet they are so happy which led her to want to do something good for them. Rose is a compassionate young lady who genuinely wants to make a difference and can’t wait to go again this year!
When DALP did Movember Staff from across our academy trust put their razors aside and let their moustaches grow wild in order to raise money for men’s health. Will Teece, a teacher at Walton Academy, initially reached out to encourage participation from across DALP following the passing of his uncle. He has raised money for the cause in the past but felt that this time around it was more poignant: “I lost my uncle who had been fighting prostate cancer for a long time. He was an amazing person but the disease destroyed him and it was horrible to see the man he had become at the end. He received some amazing care from Macmillan nurses and the
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Anti-Bullying Alliance supported by Willow College
It was Willow College’s charity day on 16th November and they managed to raise an impressive £1726.60. Many forms were involved and hosted a range of stalls, including: a marshmallow eating competition, bake sales, a tombola, teddy sales and guess the weight of the sweetie jar. Cinema nights were also held, with students voting for the film they wanted to see. They were very chilled out evenings with pizza, pop and pick’n’mix available to purchase whilst watching.
local hospice, both of which are charity organisations, so this year it had even greater relevance for me.” At Tuxford, Mr Downing, Mr Rhodes, Mr Smith and Mr Newsum-Smith (pictured left) all took part and their efforts were sterling. On the whole, they did not feel entirely supported when they first announced their decision to join in, with Mr Newsum Smith’s form telling him, “Please don’t, sir – you’ll look ridiculous!” and Mr Downing’s friends and family “Almost unanimously greeting [it] with laughter.” Despite the lack of backing initially, they proceeded to grow some wonderful moustaches and raised £368 between them. When asked how they felt the month went, Mr Rhodes admitted to being ‘very jealous’ of Mr Newsum-Smith’s ‘tache’ and all agreed that they were ready to shave them off by December. Mr Downing finished by telling us that “If anyone had the pleasure/horror of seeing my patchy Movember attempt, you will realise that anyone can and should do it; it raises money for a great cause and most of all is really fun!” Maybe next year, more of our male colleagues could be persuaded to join in so that we can exceed the £1000 raised across DALP this year.
www.tuxford-ac.org.uk
Sport
Jessica and Dambuster qualify for world renowned horse show Jessica Cheetham,Year 7, has been making a name for herself in the world of equine, qualifying for this year’s Longines Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead. This show is regarded as one of the biggest outdoor shows in the country and sees a real mix of events, from international show jumping to thousands of top show horses and ponies being put through their paces. Jessica qualified for the event when she won the Pretty Polly Heritage Mixed Breeds Championship at the British Show Pony Heritage Championships last summer on her pony (and best friend) Treworgan Dambuster. This followed a string of wins at other events throughout 2017 and took her completely by surprise. Upon getting through, Jessica says her mum was ‘close to tears’ and that although she knows that the journey towards the event will be long, it’s something she is ‘really looking forward to.’ In order to make time to spend with Buster, Jessica has taken to completing as much homework as possible in the library during break times. We wish her all the best with the many events she has coming up, especially as she says it is the last year she will be able to compete in her class before she is too old.
Cross country competitors excelled
Tuxford students performed superbly at a cross-country competition just before Christmas. It was a hugely successful event and Tuxford were victorious in the Bassetlaw District. We won all but one of the categories, leaving us beaming with pride and the owners of a new trophy for our already fit-to-bursting cabinet.
Not only did the students exceed whilst competing, they also conducted themselves in an ‘impeccable manner,’ leaving Mr Longmore, Head of PE, thrilled to have taken them to the event. As well as being placed highly throughout the day, 32 of our students qualified for the next round of the competition at Wollaton Hall.
Academy Life
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Sport
Golfing Stars We have previously reported on the great achievements of two of our young golfers, Callum Macfie and Nathan Gill (Year 12 and Year 10). It transpires that we have another young star in our midst too: George Cordall. Having played since the age of six with his father, by the time he was ten George was playing golf for Notts County Juniors. Last year he represented Notts County Juniors as Vice Captain for the under 14s. Due to his success and development, this year he will play in the under 18s team, despite still only being 13 years old himself. This is testament
to his hard work and dedication and an achievement he is undoubtedly very proud of. Last year he qualified for the Junior British Masters, where he played in the Lee Westwood annual competition at Worksop Golf Club; as well as the pride of being able to compete there, being a competitor also allowed him to see many golf celebrities, including Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia along with Rory Mcllroy and many more. Although he didn’t win, watching other professional players inspired and motivated him to keep pushing himself.
Millicent has the Olympics in sight Millicent Morgan (Year 10) has been doing taekwondo for the past eight years and has been taking competitions by storm! Her interest was sparked by her dad, who used to do taekwondo himself, and now Millicent is part of the Kang Han club in Mansfield, where she trains three times a week. In between these sessions, in order to remain in peak condition for competitions, she goes to the gym and told me that fitting school work around such a demanding schedule is something she does find hard: “I have to get it done whenever I have a spare bit of time, both before and after training sessions.” Competing in this sport also seems to come with its share of hazards: between October and February alone, Millicent tore ligaments on three occasions and fractured her foot.
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The hard work does appear to be paying off, however, with Millicent narrowly missing out on medalling at the British National Championships last year. She was particularly disappointed because when she sparred against the girl who came away with gold, she very nearly beat her, so to be knocked out at that point is something that still frustrates her but also spurs her on to not let it happen again. Despite the frustration, Millicent said that this event is the favourite of her taekwondo experiences to date. February saw a turn of events. When Millicent not only medalled, but came away with gold for her age and weight category in the Northern Youth Championships. Looking forward, Millicent revealed that she has the Olympics in her sights. She is aiming for, and would love to eventually compete in, the 2024 Olympics and we certainly wish her the very best of luck with the journey!
www.tuxford-ac.org.uk
Teaching School
Excellence through partnership Tuxford Academy was designated as a Teaching School in 2013. The alliance, led by the academy, is known as Trent Valley Teaching School Alliance (TVTSA); it currently has over forty members. Teaching Schools were set up to run on the same principles as Teaching Hospitals and are now the backbone of the self- improving schools system. Through a network of system leaders, TVTSA has provided support and challenge to a number of schools and colleges. This helps the individual schools/colleges move forward and provides professional development opportunities for our staff, to say nothing of bringing funds into the academy. The alliance team consists of Marianne Atkins and Clare Grimes who provide all administration including advice and guidance for our members; Claire Hallam, our Leader for Initial Teacher Training, (she is ably assisted by Laura Yates and Serena Sellick) and Liz Rew, the TSA Director. The team is proud of both the personalised approach offered and the number of productive partnerships developed over the years. Currently TVTSA works closely with other Nottinghamshire Teaching Schools and the local authority to ensure a coherent and comprehensive offer of the ‘Big Three’: ITT, CPD and School to School Support. This partnership has recently been successful in securing government funding of almost half a million pounds to support early language development and reading in primary schools across Nottinghamshire. We are hopeful of similar success, in the next round, to support a similar project in Nottinghamshire Secondary Schools/ Academies.
the academy. OLEVI, an international company credited with much of the success of the London Challenge, has designated Tuxford Academy as a centre of excellence (one of only twelve in the country). This empowers the TSA to represent OLEVI, to quality assure other schools and provide ‘Train the Trainer’ programmes. TVTSA has recently been accredited as an Early Excellence Hub following the outstanding work of the EYFS network. Tuxford Academy is appreciative of the support and partnership offered to the alliance by both external agencies and individuals who give willingly of their time and expertise to help schools, colleges and their staff, sometimes in challenging circumstances, to ensure high quality provision for students. This academic year we are proud to have designated four Local Leaders of Education: Heather Widdup, Jo Hall, Jo Cook and Sue Coupe. They join Louise Davidson and also David Cotton, who is a National Leader of Education, in leading the school to school support team. In addition to these system leaders, we have a number of Specialist Leaders of Education and Lead Practitioners, with experience and excellent record of success in a range of subjects and areas. Trent Valley Teaching School Alliance is fundamentally a team of schools, academies and individuals dedicated to achieving high quality education for all children through the sharing and development of excellent practice. For further information, please contact Liz Rew at Tuxford Academy: lrew@tuxford-ac.org.uk
At Tuxford Academy, the high standards of learning and teaching, students’ progress, aspirations and attitudes have attracted attention and praise from a range of visitors to
Our award winning TVTSA team Marnham Road,Tuxford, Newark, Nottingham, NG22 0JH
email: bookings@tvtsa.co.uk web: www.tvtsa.co.uk
Twitter: @tvtsa
Academy Life
Excellence
through Partnership
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“We couldn’t be prouder of our achievement. Investing in our people is incredibly important to us – we have such talented staff at Tuxford Academy and we continually strive to make it a place where colleagues feel valued and supported.”
Marnham Road, Tuxford, Newark, NG22 0JH
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Tel: 01777 870001
Fax: 01777 872155 Email: office@tuxford-ac.org.uk
www.tuxford-ac.org.uk
www.tuxford-ac.org.uk