JULY 2013
LIMEHURST NEWS Dear Parent/Carer As another successful year draws to a close, it is only right that I begin by thanking all staff, pupils and parents for the hard work that has gone in during the course of the year. Of course, this is a momentous summer in the school’s history. I would normally thank the Year 9 students who are leaving us for their hard work, and wish them all the best at their chosen upper school. Instead, we are very excited and proud that the vast majority of that year group have chosen to stay at Limehurst to study for their GCSEs. It feels like we have been preparing for this for a long time, and I suppose that is true to some extent. However, this has been the year when we have really been getting into the detail of how next year is going to work for us. The curriculum has been set, exam boards have been chosen, schemes of work have been planned, and I think we are now ready to ‘get going’! We have also taken this opportunity to review lots of other things about the way Limehurst operates. One of the things that students told us is that they wanted a new uniform to reflect the school’s new status. They have then played a key part in designing the new uniform, and we are looking forward to receiving lots of very smart looking youngsters after the summer! Naturally, the extra year group and students mean we have been busy recruiting lots of new staff for 201314, and you can read about those appointments elsewhere in this newsletter. We do say farewell this summer to an extremely long-serving member of staff in Rita Das, our Home School Development Officer. Rita’s work in the community and with parents has been integral to the school’s success, and I want to take this opportunity to wish her a very happy retirement. May I wish all staff, pupils and their families a peaceful and relaxing holiday, and I will look forward to seeing you on the first day of term, Thursday 29th August. Yours sincerely
Jonathan Mellor Headteacher
JULY 2013 CHARITY EVENTS SUMMER TERM 2013 This term pupils, parents and staff at Limehurst have shown their generosity in supporting two very worthwhile charities. In May £406 was raised for Spinal Research, following an awareness raising visit to Limehurst back in February by Claire Lomas who is paralysed and yet completed the 2012 London Marathon in a robotic suit. This year Claire has completed a Cycle Challenge, cycling hundreds of miles to raise money to find a cure for spinal paralysis. We held a non-uniform day and also pupils made the 5K Challenge where tutor groups ran as a team to complete 5K in the fastest times. Thanks to pupils and the PE department for making this a successful event. In June Limehurst was happy to "Wear it Pink" on a non-uniform day and raised £325 for breast cancer research. A big thank you to all pupils, parents and staff for helping to raise such fantastic amounts for both of these charities. Mrs C Corker Assistant Head
Two Year 9 pupils, Michael Stevens and Brandon Conway ran a football tournament for all Year 9 pupils over several weeks. Money was raised by spectators paying a 10p entrance fee. They raised £34.50 for Asthma Research. Mrs C Craven SENCO
ANNUAL YEAR 7 LONDON TRIP
On Thursday and Friday 13th and 14th June, 40 year 7 pupils together with Mr Grainger, Mrs Gale, Mr Robinson and Mrs Gavriel travelled to London for a two-day visit. The party stayed at Premier Inn, Heathrow and followed a fun-packed programme which included: a visit to the theatre to see the smash hit play War Horse; a flight on the London Eye; shopping in Covent Garden and a superb meal at The Rainforest Café. A fantastic time was had by all and once again our pupils were complimented by members of the public for their exemplary conduct. Mr Grainger
PERSONAL ACCIDENT INSURANCE As in previous years, Limehurst is offering Personal Accident Insurance to pupils through Zurich Municipal Insurance Co. This cover will cost £12 and will run from 1st Sept 2013 for one year and provides 24 hour cover. Anyone requiring further details on the cover the policy offers or an application form should contact the School Business Manager on 01509 263444
JULY 2013 SKYPE WEB CONFERENCE WITH BANGLADESH On Wednesday 5th June 2013 five members of 7FD took part in a Skype Web Conference on celebrations with four boys from Habiganj Government High School. Pupils from both schools learnt about each others’ festivals. After a very bad connection we managed to have a conversation with the boys from Bangladesh. All of us had mixed feelings about doing the Skype session at first but we all thoroughly enjoyed it; it was fascinating to talk to other pupils approximately 5,000 miles away. We learnt about their culture and the festival of Ramadan. We shared information about Christmas, Easter, Chinese New Year, a water festival celebrated in Thailand and a flower festival from the Philippines. The conversation ended with Stephen sending text messages through Skype to the boys. Steven Gardiner, Tyler Spencer-Morris, Sophie Nong, Dream Tunney and Russel Oalin(7FD)
NEW STAFF FOR 2013-14
We have a number of new staff starting at the school in August: Mr A Parrish Miss C Taylor Mrs P Hirji Miss S Panesar Mrs A Mark Mrs A Scigliano Mrs S Biswas
Head of Humanities Teacher of PE Teacher of Maths Teacher of English Teacher of Science Teacher of MFL Community Liaison Officer
We wish them all the very best!
AWARDS EVENING On Wednesday evening 26th June pupils, staff and parents attended the annual Year Nine Awards Evening. As usual each department in the school awarded three prizes: to the highest achiever, to the most diligent and to the pupil who made the most progress. In addition, 15 pupils were awarded a Limehurst Award which recognised and rewarded their wider contribution to school life. Mr Mellor and Mrs Beeby awarded the prizes at the well-attended event which was conducted in a lovely atmosphere and which ended with refreshments in the Dining Hall Mrs Beeby Assistant Head
ALTON TOWERS RESIDENTIAL TRIP On the 20th/21st March a large group of pupils from Limehurst attended a two day residential trip at Alton Towers Resort in Staffordshire. Initially the trip was planned to take advantage of activities run in the park as part of Science Week but at the last minute these sessions were cancelled. Much to their disappointment the pupils had to forgo the opportunity to listen to a lecture of the Physics behind the Rollercoaster and had to “make do” with an afternoon in the Water Park in the Splash Landings Hotel and a whole day in the Theme Park. As with all such events the pupils involved were a credit to the school, their behaviour was impeccable and good fun was had by all (even the 4 members of staff huddled up in the coffee shop trying to combat the sub zero conditions). Mr M Chamberlain Head of Science
JULY 2013 EXTRA ACCOMMODATION FOR LIMEHURST
I thought it might be useful to give you an update on this, as we prepare for an extra year group in each of the next two years. We have not needed to add extra accommodation for 2013-14, as there is enough space in the school for the number of students we will have on roll. However, we will need to do so for the following year. We did apply to the Department for Education (DfE) for some capital to be able to do this for September 2014, but unfortunately our bid was rejected, so we are now making other plans – which may involve making a second bid to the DfE. I will keep you updated next term about our plans. Mr J Mellor Headteacher
BRIDGE BUILDING As part of National Science Week a group of pupils in year 8 took part in a daylong engineering session run by Loughborough University entitled Bridge Building. The first part of the day was taken up with a competition that involved building the highest tower possible out of a limited amount of straws and sticky tape. The tower also had to be able to support a beaker of water, the more mass it could support the more points it gained. The second session involved building racing cars that either had to be powered by elastic bands or gravity. After the initial design stage all of our
pupils opted for the elastic power source and with varying degrees of success (some travelled 15 cm others around 15 m!) built some very impressive racers. The pupils were commended by staff at the University for their engineering abilities and some pupils now have thoughts about looking at a career in engineering in the future. Mr M Chamberlain Head of Science
SENTENCE COMPETITION SUMMER 2013 This term we launched a weekly writing competition between tutor groups in each year. Each week on a Monday a sentence was distributed to all the tutor groups. Their task as a form was to improve the sentence by adding ambitious adjectives, adverbs or connectives. All members of the winning tutor groups received an extra point. The form members in each year group winning the competition the most number of times received a small prize as a reward for their hard work. Examples of the sentences from the winning forms have been: 7RO The evil boy cackled as he wickedly rubbed his blistered hands together. 8GA Giggling hysterically, the ecstatic child rolled about the floor in an uncontrollable fit of glee. 9MO The man laughed hysterically like a hyena in the African desert. We encourage your child to read extensively as this will inevitably improve their writing skills. Mrs R Chauhan Head of EAL
JULY 2013 OPPORTUNITIES AND TAKING PART INTERVENTION Limehurst is proud to be able to support pupils and families in a number of ways. We have a committed team at Limehurst, a Relate counsellor, dedicated school nurse and links to many other agencies and organisations including the Swanswell project, the Jubilee Project, Schofield Centre, YISP, Youth Workers, 20-20, Worth It and Student Support services. The team have run a number of small group and one to one sessions, covering a range of needs from risk taking behaviour, anger management to confidence and self esteem building. Mrs Angell and Mrs Bassford have been able to run a Friendship group as part of our commitment to pupils’ emotional well being. The Friendship group has been an outstanding success for our pupils, with the chance to look at strategies for making, maintaining and extending friendship opportunities. MOIRA CENTRE Year 7 and Year 8 pupils have taken part in confidence raising, life skills and personal social development workshops at the Moira Centre this term. They have worked on art and design and team building tasks in small group sessions. The groups have met weekly and have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to learn in a different way. FOOTBALL PROJECT We have had the opportunity to extend our football project this term with Year 8 pupils taking part in a 4 week project run by Graham Chambers. The course looks at how football can motivate and promote a positive attitude to learning. Pupils have attended 2 sessions so far, combining classroom activities as well as the chance to improve their football skills.
DUKE OF EDINBURGH BRONZE AWARD SCHEME Limehurst pupils have been busy this term with their Duke of Edinburgh commitment. They have done their practice camp as part of their Bronze award and will be doing their assessed camp in October. They are busy finishing off their Volunteering and Physical sections to complete the Award. One of our students has been collecting used postage stamps for charity as part of his voluntary section and during an assembly, presented them to Wendy Coley from Hathern, who trains ‘Medical Detection’ dogs. Wendy spoke to the whole ‘Year Group’ about the fabulous work these dogs do. Recently some of the Year 8's had a presentation about the Duke of Edinburgh award that we run in school, following on from this they were given an enrolment pack and given the chance to discuss this fantastic opportunity at home. (Please see Duke of Edinburgh web site for more information about the award). We still have places available, the deadline date is 2nd September to return all paperwork and payment. If you would like to discuss any aspect of this opportunity further please contact Mrs Angell in the Pupil Support Office DOMINO THEATRE GROUP Some of our Year 8 girls had the opportunity to work with some final year students from Loughborough University. The workshops included; Lacrosse, dance, Shakespeare and drama. They all thoroughly enjoyed the sessions and the Domino Theatre Group were very impressed with their behaviour and positive responses to the various team building and confidence raising activities.
JULY 2013 BRIDGE PROJECT Katy from 'The Bridge' project has continued working with some of our pupils. Katy is a mediator who works with families and young people in the Charnwood area to solve issues around; understanding each other, agreeing and understanding rules, agreeing on what can be achieved, managing behaviour, living together so everyone's happy and conflict resolution. Katy comes into school once a month to offer a 'drop in' service. This service is open to parents/carers as well as pupils and so if you would like a chat, in confidence, with Katy please feel free to call in to one of the sessions. These are 1.15 – 2pm on the last Wednesday of each month. Please contact Pupil Support for more information. MENTORING We have successfully completed a mentoring scheme with Loughborough University. A number of Year 9 pupils have worked with students from the University in one to one and small group sessions. The benefits of having a mentor are proven in terms of pupil achievement and we feel that the opportunity that the scheme provided in encouraging young people to maximise their potential has been of huge value. We hope that help with time management and organisational skills, study skills and subject support and guidance, in terms of future aims and pathways, will continue to contribute to their overall progress and provide pupils with a good starting point for GCSE. Pupils attended a presentation event with their mentors and the success of the project has meant we will continue to offer this opportunity next year. ATTENDANCE Attendance remains a priority for Limehurst and we work hard to ensure that pupil attendance is as high as possible with a recommended level of
95% and above to ensure continued progress. As parents you continue to support us with maintaining and improving attendance and many of our young people have outstanding attendance this year. We have rewarded this with a number of prizes and would like to thank Tesco in the Rushes for providing us with a number of vouchers as attendance rewards. WIDENING PARTICIPATION WITH A RANGE OF UNIVERSITIES This term has seen the last of the visits to local universities which began earlier in the year and which aimed at giving pupils a deeper insight into life in higher education. Limehurst already has strong links with Loughborough University and De Montfort University and parties of pupils from all three years have benefitted from visits to both institutions. Campus tours, taster lectures and a variety of workshops about student life have been at the centre of the trips and just recently pupils have visited Nottingham Trent University to experience a similar programme of activities. Pupil feedback and evaluation suggest that the visits have been highly successful in broadening pupils’ horizons and encouraging them to consider continuing their studies into higher education. Next year, it is envisaged that Limehurst will continue to develop and foster these valuable links to the benefit of its pupils. Miss S Fisher Deputy Head
JULY 2013 FREE SCHOOL MEALS QUALIFYING BENEFITS The current criteria for claiming free school meals are as follows: Income Support (IS) Employment and Support Allowance (Income Based) Child Tax Credit, provided the annual taxable income, as assessed by the Inland Revenue is not in excess of £16,190. Families who also receive an award of Working Tax Credit do not qualify to claim for free school meals The Guarantee element of State Pension Credit Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 Children who receive Income Support (IS) or Income Based Jobseekers Allowance in their own right are also entitled to receive free school meals NO OTHER BENEFITS QUALIFY FOR FREE SCHOOL MEALS HOW DO I APPLY?
E-mail us on freeschoolmeals@leics.gov.uk Apply via telephone on 0116 3056588 or 0116 3057093 Fax us on 0116 3055785
OR CONTACT LIMEHURST ACADEMY on : 01509 263444
MISUSE OF MOBILE PHONES AND SOCIAL NETWORKING
We speak to all pupils regularly about the issues and problems associated with social networking sites and explain to them the dangers, the traps they can fall into and the problems that can arise. I would be grateful if you could continue to do the same to try to help make the message stick. I should point out to you that Facebook lists the following in its terms of use: You will not use Facebook if you are under 13. Finally, the school policy on mobile phones is quite clear. We very much appreciate that, for safety purposes, many of you wish your child to carry a mobile phone on their way to and from school. We would not wish to prevent this, but ask that pupils hand their phone in at Reception at the beginning of the school day and collect it at the end. This prevents the misuse of phones throughout the school day, and also protects you and your child against the loss, theft or damage of the phone. If there is an urgent need for your child to contact you during the school day, the correct means of doing this is via Reception. Mr J Mellor Headteacher
JULY 2013 MUSIC
SINGING DAY June 27th saw 150 pupils from primary schools descend upon our Sports Hall for a day of singing. This year’s theme was Folk Music and pupils took no time in getting stuck in to the repertoire. Primary school pupils were supported by Limehurst Academy students who also took part in the performance to parents at the end of the day. They rounded off the performance by showcasing one of their own songs ‘Miss Me When I’m Gone’. AREA ORCHESTRA On June 25th, pupils in the Loughborough Schools’ Area Orchestra had a tour of primary schools in Loughborough. Sacred Heart, Mountfields, Burton on the Wolds and Loughborough Church of England primary schools all had visits from the orchestra throughout the day. It was a very tiring but thoroughly enjoyable day that was rounded off with a performance to family members at the end of the day. For more information about the Area Orchestra, please contact Mr. Simpson.
SCHOOL FUNDING – IS YOUR CHILD ELIGIBLE FOR FREE SCHOOL MEALS? As I know you are very aware, funding for schools is much lower now than it has been in recent years. Clearly, we still hope to be able to preserve and build upon as many as possible of the excellent things we offer. However, several of the grants that have supported these activities over the years have ceased, meaning some difficult decisions have to be made. One potential source of income that you may have heard of is the Pupil Premium. This is where schools receive a fixed amount of funding according to how many of its pupils are eligible for Free School Meals. This income can make a huge difference to a school such as Limehurst, where around 25% of our pupils are currently registered as eligible. Elsewhere in this newsletter, you can read about eligibility criteria. It is easy to register. If you think you meet the eligibility criteria, I would urge you to register – even if you do not wish your child to claim a free school meal. By doing so, you could be making a big difference to school funding and helping to preserve some important services. Mr J Mellor Headteacher
INSTRUMENTAL LESSONS We still have a large number of instruments available for pupils to borrow if they are receiving instrumental tuition at school. We currently subsidise an incredible 33% towards the cost of instrumental lessons. Options include guitar, bass guitar, violin, viola, cello, bass, clarinet, saxophone, flute, trumpet, baritone, trombone, piano, keyboard, drums. For more information, please contact Mr Simpson. Mr Simpson Head of Music
YEAR 9 ACHIEVEMENTS I am delighted to report that this has been another extremely successful year for Limehurst. Well done to Year 9 for some fantastic results, and also to all staff – teaching and support – who have helped contribute to those achievements! Mr J Mellor Headteacher
JULY 2013 MATHS
Gold Awards Year 8 Vikesh Chohan
On Thursday 25th April our most able Maths students sat the Junior Maths Challenge. This is a challenge set by the University of Leeds which test pupils’ problem solving and logical thinking skills. They also use their maths knowledge and apply it to familiar and unfamiliar contexts. Well done to all pupils who took part and the pupils below for their excellent achievement.
Julian Kastrati
Maths Challenge
Bronze awards: Year 7 Tanvir Ahmed Jack Monk
Ratnesh Shah Year 9 Snibston Visit On Wednesday 22nd May, Mr Lakhani and Mrs Bowler accompanied a group of 10 Year 9 students to the “Maths in Sport” event at Snibston Discovery Park. Students completed three workshops which looked at various maths concepts with a sporting theme. Students enjoyed their day and used their skills learnt in Maths lessons fantastically well.
Wasima Hoque
We will be looking for further opportunities to enhance our Maths teaching next year by offering more out of lesson learning experiences.
Joe Wakley
Maths equipment for sale
Mehreen Sayed Saffat Kabir
Ryan Gardiner Year 8 Angeline Parker
The Maths department are selling various equipment, which your child will require for their Maths lessons. The following items are available:
Maryam Hashemi Mariah Hussain Alisha Rahman Ross Morris-Sharpe Emily Roberts Faheeza Akter Samara Osei-Asibey Silver Awards Year 7 Jessica Hardy Ishaq Hossain Jayan Patel Year 8 Jacob Kellock Evelyn Dearlove
Scientific calculator £4 (all students must have one) Maths set £1 (includes compasses, protractor, ruler & pencil) We also have GCSE revision guides and workbooks for sale at £4 for the pair. These will be available to Year 10 students who have not already purchased them If you would like your child to purchase any equipment from the Maths department, please ask them to see their Maths teacher with the correct amount of money. Many thanks for your support.
Jay Kerslake
Have a great Summer!
Fyrish Newton
Mr A Lakhani Head of Maths
Shamim Ullah Clark Samuel
JULY 2013 be taking part in phase 2 of the scheme.
We have been extremely impressed with the response from all pupils to our work in literacy and reading this year. We intend to continue to keep this as a high priority at Limehurst next year and will be extending our ‘reading for pleasure’ initiative to ‘writing for pleasure’. This will include a range of extracurricular activities during lesson time. Carnegie Shadowing Group Once again, we took part in this annual scheme. A group of eight pupils, across all three years, met every Tuesday at break time to discuss the shortlisted books for the Carnegie award. Our shadowing group’s choice was Wonder by R. C. Palacio. On the day the winner was announced we had a cake party with an amazing cake baked by Fyrish Newton.
Premier League Reading Stars The PE department has joined forces with the English Department to take part in a reading scheme run by the National Literacy Trust and the FA’s Premier League. A group of Year 8 pupils have been meeting for fixtures each week to discuss their reading and look at football websites and magazines. Pupils who complete the challenges and attend the meetings will receive rewards. A group of Year 8 pupils next term will
Charnwood Arts – Digital Storytelling We were lucky enough to be selected to work with Charnwood Arts and Loughborough University on a project called Sock Motion, part of the Children’s Festival of Literature. A group of Year 8 pupils worked on a project to create a story about Loughborough’s much-loved Sockman which then led to the production of some lovely animations to tell their stories. These were showcased at Loughborough Town Hall during May half-term. These animations will be uploaded on to our website over the next few weeks for you to view. We love reading! - Reminder Pupils are expected to carry a reading book in their school bag at all times and are encouraged to make full use of the school library. Please help us by encouraging your child to read regularly at home and bring a book to school each day. Please encourage your child to continuing reading over the Summer holidays in order to continue developing their reading skills: Fiction and non-fiction books, magazines and newspapers are all great ways of practising reading. Most books borrowed from the LRC this year: Year 7 – Tanzim Choudhury Year 8 – Katie Roulstone Year 9 – Sadia Begum Well Done! Clubs and activities for next year Royal Society Science Award Shadowing Group Graphic Novel Club Film Club Lunchtime Book Group Limehurst Loves Literature Book Week We are writers Mrs Gale Head of English
JULY 2013 ATTENDANCE MATTERS – MISS SCHOOL MISS OUT At Limehurst we are continually striving to raise the achievements of all of our students to ensure that they can take full advantage of future opportunities and lead a successful and fulfilling life. One to the key factors to future success is a good education. In order to gain a good education and achieve their full academic potential young people need to be in school on a regular basis. The students with good attendance are to ones who make the most progress and achieve the best results at the end of their school career. Research shows that relatively little absence can have a significant impact on a student’s progress. A day absent from school is a missed learning opportunity. Much of the work missed when a student is absent is never made up. Gaps in learning puts students at a great disadvantage compared to their peers who are in school all of the time. We closely monitor the attendance of all our students, to maximise their chances of achieving success. Students should be aiming for in excess of 96% attendance. From September we will be alerting parents when their child’s attendance falls below this figure. You will be offered the opportunity to discuss with a member of staff any issues affecting your child’s attendance at school. We know that some absence due to illness is unavoidable and we would ask that you inform school at the earliest opportunity if your child is ill. Do not keep your child off school for minor ailments. If you are unsure whether to send your child to school, contact school and discuss the matter with a member of staff. Where possible avoid making routine medical or dental appointments during the school day. The biggest cause of absence from school is parentally condoned absence. Schools have a
duty to question frequent absence and if your child has more than average bouts of illness we may require some form of medical evidence in order to authorise absence. We will contact you and invite you to meet with a member of staff if we become concerned about your child’s level of absence. If you need to take your child out of school please discuss the reason with school at the earliest opportunity. In line with recent changes in legislation we cannot authorise absence for the purpose of a holiday in term time. Headteachers can now only grant permission for leave of absence in the most exceptional circumstance. We are introducing these measures in order to raise the standards in this school and to give our students the best opportunities in life. We hope that we will have your understanding and cooperation, and we can work together to ensure success for all our children. Please continue to contact Miss Turner in the morning regarding your child’s absence. Miss N Turner Attendance Officer
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY School closes
Fri 12thJuly. Please note all pupils will be dismissed at 1:15 p.m.
Thurs 15th August Tues 27th August School open to sell 10:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. uniform WE HAVE ALLOCATED 10-11 A.M. FOR YEAR 7 STUDENTS AND THEIR SIBLINGS School opens
Thurs 29th August, 8:45 am.
Half Term Break
Mon 21st — Fri 25th October
Please see elsewhere in the newsletter for details of School Terms and Holidays for the next academic year.
JULY 2013 Term Dates for 2013-2014 Autumn Term School Opens Mid-Term Break School Closes
Thursday 29th August 2013 Monday 21st to Friday 25th October 2013 Friday 20th December 2013
Spring Term School Opens Mid-Term Break School Closes Summer Term School Opens May Day Bank Holiday Mid-Term Break School Closes
Tuesday 7th January 2014 Monday 17th to Friday 21st February 2014 Friday 11th April 2014
Monday 28th April 2014 Monday 5th May 2014 Monday 26th May to Friday 30th May 2014 Friday 11th July 2014
ES HAT UNS UNHEIMLICH SPAß IN DEUTSCHLAND GEMACHT!
“WE ARE WHAT WE EAT. LET’S COOK TOGETHER!” – COMENIUS PROJECT During the Easter holidays, staff and a group of Year 9 students travelled to Berlin and Gröbzig in Eastern Germany to meet up with staff and students from our German Partner school, JF
Walkhoff School. The trip included a ‘once in a life-time’ visit to Berlin, where students visited the Berlin Wall and travelled through ‘Ghost Stations’ (a relic from the ‘Cold War’) on the underground. Our German guide was able to show us parts of the city which tourists would not normally find, including very old buildings which still bear scars from the war. Everyone admitted to feeling very moved by our visit to Berlin. The visit had lighter moments when German and English students collaborated in dancing under the Brandenburger Tor at night! In Gröbzig we went to school! Students joined in with German, English, French, Science and Philosophy lessons. They cooked together and it was delicious! We visited a farm and tracked the life of a vegetable from seed to supermarket. It gave our budding entrepreneurs some ideas. As always our students were impressive ambassadors for our school and their parents. Our German hosts, in particular Frau Zerbe and Frau Flach, made the trip really special. We returned home exhausted but with memories we shall treasure. I would like to thank the students for working so hard to make the trip a success; especially their efforts to create ‘Hungry Caterpillar’ cartoons in German. I would also like to say a special thank you to Mr. Robinson for his amazing organisational skills and good humour. But I know that both students and Mr. Robinson will agree with me, when I say that the biggest thank you goes to Mrs. Coppard, without whom the whole Comenius project, and especially the trip, would not have happened. The month’s worth of work she voluntarily put into the trip, ensured that the students enjoyed both a safe and action packed trip. Thank you, Mrs. Coppard. Mrs. Haigh Head of MFL
JULY 2013 SPORTS DAY REVIEWS Sports Day was really fun I thoroughly enjoyed taking part especially the satisfaction of winning both my races. You could feel the adrenalin rush in the air, the atmosphere was incredible. Our form team AR did really well and came second overall. My favourite race was the Year Seven Boys’ Relay because our Relay Team was really good and we thrashed everybody by coming first by a long way. Another really exciting race was when I came first in my 800m and 1500m out of Year Seven and second overall out of Year Eights and Year Nines as well. I so nearly caught up with Year Eights and Year Nines in front of me. They just managed to beat me. But overall I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed Sports Day and would love to do it every day. Ethan Hulley 7AR Whoosh! It was an amazing experience at Limehurst Academy’s Sports Day 2013! Just seeing everyone participate showed that Limehurst is a Sports College. The air around the track of racers was full of anxiousness and relief as many people participated in the different races. Many shocks came as AR tore up the racetrack as they were competing in the relay. A highlight of the Year 7 relay was when Ibrahim Miah aged 12 obliterated all other competitors in a ground breaking time! It was an unexpected turnout when ST in Year 7 won the Sports Day with AR close behind . All forms showed great sportsmanship and that day was truly one to remember! Ethan Hulley of 7AR said “Just seeing everyone coming together to compete brightened my day!” Robi Choudhury 7AR As we all walked, skipped or ran to the field, a
rush of warm victory blew in our faces. Music played loud, but not clear enough, we felt like we were walking on the red carpet and everyone was staring at us like we were famous. We looked around, seeing what the other classes’ flags looked like. Our class’s flag was bigger that all the Year 7s, 8s and 9s flags!! Monika Gandhi 7AR
EAL NEWS There is a lot of new important information for our Bangladeshi and Polish parents related to absences, revision guides, reading, school uniform, OFSTED inspection, Polish GCSE, etc. The department has been busy making two very useful videos highlighting some of the new initiatives. To view these, simply scan the QR codes below with your smart phones. If you require any further information, please contact the members of the EAL team.
Bengali
Polish
JULY 2013 DESIGN NEWS – SUMMER ‘13. TEXTILES CLUB The group has continued to thrive this term with some really successful individual projects in all years. One of the highlights of this term was a trip to the Art College to visit the Textiles Degree shows. Many of the members came back to school inspired by what they saw. Hopefully some of them will become students themselves at the art college in a few years time! Can I thank all members for their contribution all year. New and old members will be welcome in September. Mrs E Berrisford Design ARTS AWARDS Learners have participated in workshops run by Charnwood Arts and have explored their own projects gaining skills in a variety of media such as animation, painting, dressmaking and sculpture. They have visited the Loughborough University School of Art Final Shows and also conducted workshops where they have shared their skills with fellow Arts Awards participants. James Chantry – Charnwood Arts. GIRLS ENGINEERING PROJECT – GIRLSGETSET The girls have now completed their third and final session of this year with a trip to Cheltenham to attend the GE Aviation – Final Girls Day. It was a super early start, 7.30am, as we travelled down by coach with girls from the Loughborough High School and Castle Donnington High School with whom they’ve enjoyed previous events and friendships. The site at GE Aviation is a military base so we were forbidden to take photographs or use mobile phones!
The girls were able to experience many activities such as CSI Blood Analysis, Balloon Jet Propulsion and the Code and Communications workshop. Our pupils were fabulous and were crowned winning team in two of their activities. Well done to all the Limehurst Academy Future Female Engineers! Miss J Armstrong. Head of D/T
BEHAVIOUR TO/FROM SCHOOL Behaviour in school has been judged as Outstanding by OFSTED in their last three visits, and visitors to the school routinely comment on the calm, learning atmosphere. We are very proud of this, and also of our community relations, so I am disappointed to have to report that we still – very occasionally receive some complaints of anti-social behaviour by our pupils on the way to and from school. So far, in each case, I have been able to identify those responsible and they have been made to apologise to those reporting the incidents. Please remind your child of their responsibilities while travelling to and from school, particularly if they are using public transport Mr J Mellor Headteacher
JULY 2013 SCHOOL DRESS CODE 2013/14 Students are required to wear our distinctive school uniform. This consists of the following: CARDIGAN, JUMPER or BLAZER
One to be worn at all times
SCHOOL TIE
Black and green striped school tie to be worn at all times
TROUSERS
Black full length trousers of a school style which should be totally plain, without any type of adornment label etc. and cannot be excessively tight (NOT PERMITTED – jeans or “jean-type” trousers, skin tight trousers/leggings/’combat’ style, cropped or dropped waist)
SKIRT
Black skirts should be of a modest knee-length, which should be totally plain, without any type of adornment label etc. (NOT PERMITTED – very short and/or tight stretchy skirts, jean-style skirts)
SHIRT
Plain white school shirts
FOOTWEAR
Plain black school shoes (NOT PERMITTED – Trainers or trainer-style shoes)
JEWELLERY/ACCESSORIES
Students may only wear a watch and stud earrings, one stud in each ear. No other jewellery may be worn including piercing jewellery (e.g. nose studs, facial piercing, tongue studs)
MAKE-UP
No make-up should be worn in school
HAIRSTYLES
No extreme hairstyles or colours
RELIGIOUS HEADWEAR Plain black or white PE KIT
Royal blue polo shirt with embroidered school logo Royal blue/white reversible long-sleeved top with embroidered school logo Black PE shorts or black tracksuit trousers
For Health & Safety reasons all jewellery to be removed PLEASE NOTE SCHOOL WILL BE OPEN ON THURSDAY AUGUST 15TH AND TUESDAY AUGUST 27TH FROM 10:00 a.m. TO 2:30 p.m. HOWEVER WE HAVE ALLOCATED 10:00-11:00 A.M. FOR PARENTS OF YEAR 7 STUDENTS AND THEIR SIBLINGS
TEAM LIMEHURST
TEAM LIMEHURST
Limehurst Academy Sports News Boccia News: Our Boccia team continue to be consistently successful this Year! On Thursday 20th June the team competed in a regional tournament at Humphrey Perkins School. Our team members were : Chloe Johnson, Ryan Gardner, Baden Gee, Brandon Conway, Krishna Patel and Ashan Ahmed. The team were fantastic and finished joint first in the field which included Woodbrook Vale, Humphrey Perkins and Shepshed. Well done to all involved. Athletics: On Tuesday 14th May 52 of our students took part in the English Schools Track and Field Cup. This was held at Saffron Lane Athletics Stadium in Leicester and saw our students compete against Leicester Grammar School, Bosworth Academy, Lutterworth College, Kibworth High School, Brockington College and other schools from the county. Our students were a real credit to Limehurst with the following results: the Yr 7/8 boys finished 4th out of 8 teams; Yr7/8 girls finished 6th out of 8 teams; Yr 9 boys (versus Yr9/10 teams) finished 8th out of 8 teams; Yr9 girls (versus Yr 9/10 teams) finished 9th out of 10 teams. It is important to note that the track and field cup sees Yr 7 and Yr 8 compete together and Year 9 and Year 10 compete together. This meant this year our Year 9 competitors were taking part against older students – this holds us in good stead for the competition next year. On Wednesday 15th May we took 70 students to the North Charnwood Area Sports athletics event at the Loughborough Grammar School playing fields. Again our students were a real credit to our school. Star performers were Oliver Broadley
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(200m), Angeline Parker (200m) and Cyrus Brierley who all got selected to represent North Charnwood at the County Sports event at Saffron Lane on Saturday June 8th. Oliver came 4th at this event, Angeline finished 4th and unfortunately Cyrus was unable to compete. A massive well done to you three! Cricket: Our Year 8/9 team has been in impressive form this Year. We won our game away versus Shepshed with a fine bowling performance from Ratnesh Shah (wickets also came from Sanjay Odedra, Jayan Patel, and Kyle Doran) and a fine batting performance from Abu Taher and also Ratnesh Shah. The lads then played against Woodbrook Vale and lost but it is important to note that our Yr 8/9 team is mainly made up from Year 8 lads whereas our opponents tend to mainly be Year 9’s. This means the future looks bright! The Year 7/8 team had a fantastic game versus Wreake Valley in which they lost by a close 4 runs! In an awesome game the star of the show was Jayan Patel. Rounders: Rounders has faced the same issue as Year 7/8 boys’ cricket – weather has hindered playing opportunity! However the girls did get a small tournament on 6th June at Woodbrook Vale. The result was that our girls finished 4th after competing against Humphrey Perkins, Woodbrook Vale, Our Lady’s Convent, and Stonehill. Our star performer was Molly Satterthwaite.
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TEAM LIMEHURST Golf: This Year Limehurst Academy entered the North Charnwood Golf Championships which were held at Park Hill Golf Club, this was a fantastic experience for everyone involved. After winning the North Charnwood qualifying round we then went on to Represent North Charnwood at the Leicestershire and Rutland Golf Championship Finals on Tuesday 11th June. Our students demonstrated fantastic skills as well as the etiquette and respect that all golfers practice. We finished in 4th place overall and are once again very proud of everyone who participated in the golf lessons and competitions throughout this year. Well done.
TEAM LIMEHURST The Sport Day afternoon itself was really fun with all students and all staff out on the field. A massive congratulations to all who took part and a huge thank you to all staff for helping the day to run smoothly. The results are as follows:
Year 7 Winners: ST (99 points)
2nd: AR (87 pts) 3rd: RO (82 pts)
4th: KD (72 pts) 5th: FD (68 pts)
Sports Day: Sports Day was held over three days this Year! We had a Hop Over event on Monday 10th June, a Boccia Target event and a Welly Wanging event on Tuesday 11th June, Athletics throws and jumps on the morning of Wednesday 12th June and then Sports Day afternoon on Wed 12th June for all running events. The most pleasing thing was that over the three days the vast majority of pupils represented their form in one event meaning nearly everyone contributed to Sports Day. This was fantastic to see.
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Year 8 Winners: AC (85 points but won due to a higher relay result than CA) 2nd: CA (85 pts) 3rd: MK (79 points but higher relay result compared to NE) 4th: NE (79 pts) 5th: GA (78 pts)
Year 9 Winners: CR (99 Points)
2nd: HA (97 pts) 3rd: CH (73 pts)
4th: ME (64 pts) 5th: MO (63 pts)
Tug Of War: Our last sporting event of the year was an interform Tug Of War competition. Winners were as follows: Year 7 = tutor group KD; Year 8 = tutor group MK; Year 9 = tutor group = CH Star performers (this involves performance in games / effort in training / helping staff sort teams etc): Athletics: - Angeline Parker, Oliver Broadley, and Cyrus Brierley
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TEAM LIMEHURST Basketball – Fatima Choudhury, Samiha Choudhury, Dominic Wardle, Kyle Needham, Iara Tomas, and Erienne Thomas
TEAM LIMEHURST pitch. Both Harlequins’ and Tigers’ teams ran through the ‘Limehurst’ “guard of honour” at the start of the game – all of this in front of a capacity crowd (approx. 25,000). Amazing!
Boccia – Brandon Conway and Krishna Patel Cricket: - Ratnesh Shah, Jayan Patel, Kyle Doran, Abu Taher Tufael, and Sanjay Odedra. Sports Day – Some special mentions for the following pupils: Ethan Hulley (a magnificent run in both the 800m and the 1500m); Fatima Choudhury (a fantastic 800m race); Angeline Parker and Oliver Broadley (fantastic sprinting); Odin Starbuck (discus); Georgina Bassford and Sumaya El Ahmar (long jump); Hana Saleh, Karysha Vardy, Jordan Middleton and Abu Taher Tufael (Javelin); Iara Tomas (all round performances); Joe Ellis, Ross Morris-Sharpe (Shot-Putt) to name but a few! Leicester Tigers Trip: On Saturday 11th May the Leicester Tigers hosted Harlequins in the Aviva Premiership Rugby Union semi-final. Now this would normally be exciting enough but Limehurst Academy PE department was asked to provide a number of Year 8 students to be the “guard of honour” for both teams at the start of the game. For our students this provided a once in a lifetime opportunity. We managed to take 35 students to the game, 22 of whom were asked to perform the “guard of honour”. For the majority of the students attending this was their first live experience of a Rugby Union match. The “guard of honour” involved the 22 students (boys and girls) walking onto the pitch in green Tigers t-shirts and large Tigers flags. The group then split into two lines forming a “guard of honour” from the tunnel to the middle of the
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At half time all 35 Limehurst students were able to walk around the hallowed Welford Road turf and wave to all of the fans, as well as a stop for a photo with Tigers star Boris Stankovich! The game was a fantastic spectacle. In particular the second half showed some fantastic rugby action. Two Leicester Tigers tries were scored right in front of our students – one by Tom Croft (British Lion this Year) and the other by man of the match Matthew Tait. The final score was Leicester Tigers 33 – Harlequins 16. This ensured the Tigers a place in the Aviva Premiership final where they faced East Midlands rivals Northampton Saints at Twickenham on Saturday May 25th. Our students were an absolute credit to themselves, their families and of course our school. It is also important to thank all staff who helped with the trip including the entire PE department, Mr Nelson, Mr Messali and Miss Turner. The trip was a real success.
“Team photo”
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TEAM LIMEHURST Opportunities for you: Thank you for everyone who has taken part in teams, clubs and events related to PE and sport this year. You have been a real credit to our school as well as yourselves. Have a great summer and we look forward to playing more sport next year starting back in September with Football, Netball, Table Tennis and Badminton. A belated welcome, a welcome and thank you: This year the PE dept, as you know, grew from two full time staff to three. Mr Robinson has had a fantastic year and as a result we feel the PE dept has moved forward again offering more opportunity for all students. Next year is just as exciting as we welcome Miss Taylor to our team – this makes the department four full time staff and can only be of benefit to all students in PE at Limehurst!
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TEAM LIMEHURST Also huge thank you to all non PE staff that have helped with sport and extracurricular activities this Year: Miss Armstrong (gymnastics club); Mr Nelson, Mr Lakhani, Mr Chamberlain, Miss Armstrong (fitness club); Mr Messali (football fixtures). A Goodbye: Finally – Dave Driver retires this year. Dave has worked for many years with Limehurst, Shepshed High and Woodbrook Vale High in developing sports leaders, running Boccia competitions, working with feeder primary schools (running sports competitions for them) and generally creating extra opportunity for students in PE, sport and physical activity. We wish him well in his retirement and thank him for all of his hard work and commitment over the years.
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