Performing Arts Newsletter - March 2011

March 2011

Also Available on the school website!

In this issue       

Sports Results Young Musician of the year Paris Trip Oliver on his way!

Ashton‟s got talent Ofsted Report Christmas Show Contact Us

If you would like to speak to any of the performing arts staff regarding this newsletter or anything else that concerns your child‟s education, please contact us at school.

Our members of staff are listed below and would be happy to assist you with any enquiries.

Clockwise from top left: Drama students perform a piece of GCSE assessment, „Grease‟ wows the audience, the opening of ‟Adizone‟ and Kieran Corbett makes his way to a 5th place finish at the Preston Schools cross country in September.

Ofsted

The Performing Arts Faculty

Just like the whole school, Performing Arts was praised highly by Ofsted during the inspection in October. We certainly feel that, as a Faculty, Performing Arts contributes heavily to the Extra Curricular programme of the school so it was very pleasing to hear Ofsted comment that „extra curricular provision is exemplary‟. In her open letter to students, lead inspector Shirley Gornall also commented that she was pleased to see so many students enjoying extra curricular activities.

Welcome to the newsletter for the Performing Arts Faculty. We hope that this newsletter will keep you updated on all that has been happening within the faculty during this academic year and that students, parents and staff alike will take some time to celebrate the achievements of students across our 4 subject areas, which are P.E, Music, Dance and Drama.

The main aim within our faculty is to increase participation in our subject areas and make them enjoyable, engaging and rewarding for students in curriculum and extra curricular time. Our ethos is simple –

Aspirations

Results

Teamwork

Support

Head of Faculty: Mrs L Violet P.E Mr A. Corcoran (Head of P.E) Miss N. Hall (Head of Girls P.E) Miss C. Lindley (Head of Girls P.E) Mr J. Bland (Head of Boys P.E) Mrs L. Edwards (SSCO) Mrs H. Porter (SSCO) Mr A. Smith (Schools Facility Development Director) Music Mrs K. Battersby (Subject Leader of Music) Ms G. Sanders (Teacher of Music) Dance Miss K. McClelland (Subject Leader Dance)

We hope you enjoy reading about all the achievements of our students and look forward to updating you again during the summer term.

Drama

The Performing Arts Faculty.

Mrs S. Barnes (Subject Leader of Drama) Mrs Yates (Teacher of Drama)

Young Musician of the year In October, Mrs Battersby organised the Young Musician of the Year competition and it was a fiercely competitive event. Students were grouped in 2 categories, Instrumental Class and Vocal Class.

Netball Trip In November, our Netballers went along to the Echo Arena in Liverpool to watch the World Netball Championships.

Among the countries playing were The judges were Mrs Violet and Miss Melling England, Australia, South Africa and they had a tough job selecting winners from and New Zealand and this was a all the students who took part. great chance for the girls to see the best players in the world.

The final results were:Instrumental Class In total the girls saw 8 matches and 1st Prize - Alice Buchanan, Piano were hopefully able to pick up 2nd Prize - Holly Mawdsley, Cornet some handy tips for their games.

3rd Prize - Tom Dransfield, Percussion The competition saw the trial of a Vocal Class new rule - the „two point shot‟ 1st Prize - Sean Smith which had never been tried before.

2nd Prize - Courtney Simpson 3rd Prize - Connor Wilson Also taking part were :Hayley Moon Chloe Moon Annie Miller Katie Simpson Daniel Bradbury Chloe Leighton John Robinson Jack Parkinson

Climbing Six Ashton students took part in the Preston School climbing championships on 4th March at West View.

The group had been practicing for months on our climbing wall but were against some very strong competition.

After an outstanding (and tiring) day, we finished 2nd in the overall team competition. The team was Sophie Sutton Luke Ashworth Joe O‟Rourke Tom Dransfield Holly Rhodes Christie Rawcliffe Well done to all!

Music Exams In December, some of our Music students took Music exams and achieved a 100% pass rate. The students involved were:Connor Wilson - Grade 6 singing Jack Parkinson - Grade 5 singing Hayley Moon - Grade 3 singing - passed with merit James Holderness - Grade 3 Trumpet Holly Rhodes - Grade 2 Cornet - Passed with merit Holly Mawdsley - Grade 1 cornet - Passed with Distinction.

A special thank you to Mrs Battersby for teaching the singers and Mrs Bould for all her help with the brass students.

Well done to all our Musicians, we hope to see you accompanying our performances for years to come.

Tag Rugby

U16 Preston Hockey Champions Congratulations to our U16 Hockey Well done to Lewis Read, Squad who were recently crowned Joe O‟Rourke and Isaac champions of Preston. The girls won Finnigan who attended the their league and remained undefeated.

Preston School Sports Natasha Charlesworth captained the Partnership Talent Day. All side throughout the campaign.

3 boys took part in football and tag rugby and had a The squad was:thoroughly enjoyable day Natasha Charlesworth (c) Rachel Critch Rachel Baines Olivia Millington Katie Tinsley Mel Crook Rachel Chapman Mia Arguello Freya Hunt FIXTURES Shannon Wells Hannah Maguire Don‟t forget that we still Ivy Kusaloka Louise Luxton have many fixtures in lots of different sports. Contact Chrissie Hempstalk Amy Bate the P.E staff for details.

Congratulations Girls!

Preston Schools Cross Country Championships This competition was held in Longridge in September and Ashton took the largest team of any school - 46 students. All students Performed with great determination but special praise must go to Luke Britton, Katie Mawdsley and Adam Proctor who all qualified for the Lancashire Schools cross country event which was held in February.

In this event all runners endured energy sapping conditions in heavy rain. Congratulations to all the cross country runners. See you all next year!

Christmas Show 2010

Cottam League Netball

What a fantastic night! We are very proud of all the performing arts students who took part in the Christmas Show.

The show was opened up by Miss McClelland‟s dancers performing “All I Want For Christmas is You”.

The music students, led by Mrs Battersby then performed in the first half of the show. The students had prepared and practised pieces in their music lessons and music clubs. The woodwind group, guitar group, string group, brass group, singers, rock group, percussion group and soloists all performed various Christmas songs and music. Many thanks to the instrumental teachers for their hard work and support in helping students prepare their performances: Mr Smith (percussion), Mr Boyes (strings), Mr Purves 9 (guitar), Mrs Bould (brass), Miss Kirkpatrick (woodwind) and Mrs Battersby (singing).

Our Year 9 and 10 Netball teams have been playing in the adult Netball league at Preston Sports Arena this season.

Miss Hall decided to enter the teams in an attempt to improve and enhance their skills and it certainly appears to have worked with both teams making massive strides since the beginning of the season.

Then in the second half the Christmas spirit continued with the musical “Scrooge” directed by Mrs Barnes.

In the first few matches the girls were well beaten but after getting used to the standard of play, they have managed to make games much closer and even won some matches.

The teams are called Ashton Yellow (Year 9 ) and Ashton Black (Year 10) and you can see them play in the Netball league most Thursdays. Games start at either 6:30 p.m or 7:30 p.m.

Adizone Opening!

Cast Harry Westall yr 11 – Scrooge Connor Wilson yr 11 – Bob Cratchit Jack Parkinson yr 11 - Tom Jenkins Hayley moon yr 10 – Mrs Cratchit James Holderness yr 10 – Jacob Marley/Ghost of Christmas future Mark Pascoe Yr 11 – Ghost of Christmas present (Giant) Holly Thornton Yr 9 – Ghost of Christmas Past John Robinson yr 9 – Scrooge‟s nephew Paris Trip

The recent opening of the Adizone Multi Games area on Ashton Park, provided some of our students with the opportunity to showcase their skills. The BTEC Dance group performed one of their routines despite the pouring rain.

There was also a chance

for some of our GCSE P.E students to help with Mrs Barnes‟ drama group the official recently went to opening and try out the Disneyland Paris as part new facilities. Rachel of their studies. Part of the Critch, Sammy Ball and trip was educational while Dean Crook are shown other parts were just here with guest of goofing around! honour, Cllr Richardson

Badminton Competitions At the turn of the year, the Preston Schools badminton championships took place and as ever Ashton was well represented. In the Year 9 competition the boys - Martyn Buttle, Tom Brocken, Elliott Breakell, Brian Vibert and Scott Harrison finished 2nd, while the girls - Freya Hunt, Rachel Chapman, Melissa Crook and Mia Arguello won their group and went forward to the county finals where they finished a respectable 6th.

Open Evening In October, we held our annual Open Evening and as ever, Performing Arts put on an all action spectacle. As well as showing prospective parents our excellent facilities, they were treated to a dance performance, several gymnastic and trampolining routines and given the chance to use the climbing wall and cricket nets. In drama and music, performances were used to show students just how many opportunities there are in performing arts across the school. In the picture (right) Ellie Wilkinson performs her latest routine on the trampoline!

Table Tennis The Year 8 Table Tennis Team played in the Preston School Championships in February. The event was hosted at Fulwood and attended by Ashton, Broughton, St Cecilias and Fulwood.

We finished 3rd in the group and therefore did not qualify for the final. The team was:Kain Innes, Josh Bate and James Harford.

Boys Football Results Year 7 A.Temple - Lost 6-1 Broughton - Lost 3-1 St Cecilias - Won 4-3

Year 10 Manor, York - (Friendly) Won 4-3 A.Temple - Won 3-0 Clitheroe (E.S.F.A Cup) Won 4-2 CTK - Won 4-0 Broughton - Lost 6-1 Year 7 finished 3rd in their league and St Cecilias - Lost 3-1 lost in the 1st round of the English School Harper Green - (ESFA Cup) Lost 6-0 Cup to Kirkby. The top scorer so far is Accrington Aca - (Lancs Cup) Won 4-0 Jack Davey with 6 goals.

Montgomery (Lancs Cup) Won 2-0 Park High - Lancs Cup Q/Final Won 2-0 St Cecilias - (Friendly) Lost 3-1 Year 8 A.Temple - Won 4-1 Moor Park - Drew 2-2 Year 10 have had a successful season so CTK - Won 7-1 far and remain in 2 cup competitions.

Broughton - Lost 5-3 The top scorer so far is Jack Evans with Carr Hill - (Lancs Cup) Lost 5-1 6 goals.

St Cecilias - Lost 4-3 Our Lady‟s - (Friendly) Lost 3-1 Year 11 St Cecilias - (Friendly) Won 6-1 Manor, York - (Friendly) Lost 5-1 CTK - Won 4-0 Year 8 finished 2nd in their league and A.Temple - Lost 2-1 are still in the Preston Cup. The leading Broughton - Lost 5-3 scorer is Robson Hall with 13 goals.

St Cecilias - Won 3-1 Balshaws - (Lancashire Cup) Won 4-3 Burscough - (Lancashire Cup) Lost 6-1 Year 9 A.Temple - Lost 5-1 Our Lady‟s (Preston Cup) Lost 2-0 Manor, York (Friendly) Won 2-0 Clitheroe - Lost 6-3 Year 11 reached the Quarter final of the St Cecilias - Won 5-1 Lancashire Cup where they were beaten Broughton - Won 3-1

by Burscough. The top scorer so far is Balshaws - (Lancs Cup) Won 2-1 Jack Cardwell with 7 goals.

Year 9 still have Preston Cup games to play and are also going well in the Lancashire Cup. Top Scorer - Lennox Roberts –10

Ribbleton Campus Teams Year 9 Longridge - Lost 8-1 Our Lady‟s - Lost 6-1 Fulwood - Lost 6-1

Girls Football The under 16 girls are in a mini league with 3 other schools and have played 1 game so far which was a thrilling 7-6 defeat to Our Lady‟s in which Sammy Ball scored a hat-trick including an amazing 40 yard screamer!

Girls Netball Results Year 7 & 8 The year 7 and 8 Netball teams have just started playing fixtures and are continuing to train hard in an attempt to be successful in their league. Keep up the good work girls!

Year 9 St Cecilias - Won 8-4 Broughton - Lost 11-3 Longridge - Lost 7-4 A.Temple - Lost 9-6 Year 10 St Cecilias - Lost 11-3 Broughton - Lost 16-3 Longridge - Lost 25-3 ATemple - Lost 12-6 Year 11 St Cecilias - Lost 15-13

Year 11 Longridge - Won 4-3 Our Lady‟s - Lost 8-3 Fulwood - Lost 8-1 Year 9: Reached the 1/4 Final of the Lancashire Cup

* All football matches are league games unless otherwise stated.

The Year 9 Girls netball team in action against Broughton back in October.

Coming Soon!!!!

We will remain busy over the next few months with the finals of Ashton‟s got Talent, the conclusion of the Football and Netball seasons and the start of summer sports including Cricket, Rounders and Athletics. The summer is a very busy time for fixtures, shows and performances with City Sports Athletics and our school sports day on the sporting front and the performance of Oliver! on the stage which is being co-ordinated by Mrs Barnes, Mrs Battersby and Miss McClelland.

We will update events in our summer publication and we hope you have enjoyed seeing the progress we and the students have made.

It is also fast approaching GCSE time and we have lots of students preparing for their exams in all of our subject areas. Good luck to all!

Audtions: Week commencing 7th March 2011 Show Date: Thurs 31st March 2011 PRIZES to be won £££

Everyone Welcome to Audition Any questions – See Miss. McClelland/ Mrs Yates/Mrs Violet