Newsletter

Autumn 2014 Issue 1

Open Evening - 30th September 2014

Welcome...

At Blackpool Aspire Academy we realise that moving from Primary to Secondary school is a big step, which can seem very daunting to some of our young people.

Our Open Evening enabled Year 6 students and their parents, or carers, to get a feel for our school community, helping them reach a decision about their next step.

to the first Inspire termly newsletter full of information, stories, and memories about our first seven weeks as a new Academy.

It is extremely pleasing to report that the vast majority of students have responded superbly to our BIG messages about punctuality, attendance, uniform, behaviour, learning, and respect. Our distinctive black, purple, and white uniform is being worn with great pride by the students, especially the girls, and has attracted many favourable comments from members of the local community.

The Th event was very well attended and visitors were at free fre to explore the school or o be given guided tours by our prefects, allowing

opportunities to talk with staff and students in each of the faculties about all aspects of school life.

Course work was on display, ay, alongside classroom demonstrations to t ti t see and d gett involved in. The evening’s activities included science experiments, English and maths challenges, cookery tasting sessions, sporting activities, design creation sessions, dance displays, and much more.

All departments reported high levels of interest and we look forward to welcoming our new students next September.

O Open Evening on Tuesday, 30th September, Our w a huge success with nearly 200 sets of Parents/ was C Carers attending the event. The students were very e excited about showing off what they have achieved in this short space of time and why Parents/Carers o children in primary school should be sending their of s sons and daughters to this flourishing and ambitious A Academy.

O Monday, 20th October, we held our first On A Aspirational Day which allowed students in Years 1 and 11 to focus all day on the core subjects of 10 English, Maths, and Science, whilst Years 7, 8, and 9 had the opportunity to delve more deeply into PSHE topics and issues.

Y Year 11 students continue to be our BIG focus since w believe they can really achieve some outstanding we r results next summer. The BIG question is do you as P Parents/Carers, and they themselves, believe this t too?

We want them to do well, but need your help U URGENTLY. T Thank you for your continuing support and why not a arrange to visit the Academy whilst ‘at work’ next half t term.

You are always most welcome.

M C Simkins Mr A Academy Principal

First Aspire Head Boy and Head Girl announced Following a thorough application and interview process we are pleased to announce the appointment of Blackpool Aspire Academy’s first Head Boy, Rhys, and Head Girl, Sharmin, who will both be ably supported by Deputy Head Boy, Reuben, and Deputy Head Girl, Kay. In addition to this, and based on the high quality of applicants, a Senior Prefect Team consisting of a further twelve students has been appointed and are already working with students and staff.

All applicants were praised for their mature attitude, positivity, commitment to the school, and the aspirations they have.

A day of Aspirations On Monday, 20th October, all students took part in our Aspirational Day of activities to allow them to excel and achieve their ‘Aspirational Targets’.

Throughout the day older students concentrated on improving their skills for the core subjects of English, science, and maths in topics such as algebraic fractions, Pythagoras’ Theorem, and advanced probability, while younger students were given the opportunity to explore PSHE topics and issues through lessons, demonstrations, and role play. All students’ engagement with the sessions was fantastic and gave them a chance to experience teaching in a different way.

Alongside the usual high quality teaching and additional tutorials put on by the dedicated staff in all departments, days like this allow our students

to achieve the best that they possibly can. To further support our Year 11 students in their quest for great exam results half term exam practice homework has been set - this ensures that no student falls behind over the school break.

They are currently working tremendously hard to achieve their challenging targets set by the new academy.

Exciting, challenging and engaging lessons coupled with a comprehensive lesson 6 program with supporting uting to Aspirational Days are contributing Year 11 being on track to achieve outstanding results next summer.

Over the coming weeks Year 11 will be working hard in Progress Tutor time on revision technique workshops to support preparation for their first set of mock examinations which commence on Monday, 24th November – only 13 school days after our return from the October break.

Primary school road r show Blackpool Aspire Academy’s Performing Arts Department visited eight primary schools on Friday 12th, and Friday 19th September, in the run up to Open Evening. The half hour show was filled with entertainment and great messages about our new Academy.

The Gospel Choir sang ‘Happy’ and a song to warn off bullies called ‘Who do you think you are? Bully’. Dancers danced to songs called ‘Come back my Love’ and ‘Shake a tail feather’ and two Year 8s performed a play called ‘Big Fish in a Little Pond’ about pupils moving from primary school to secondary school.

The performances were amazing. Everyone who took part worked really hard.

Following a successful Progress Evening on the 15th October, we know that our parents are fully supportive of the aspirations of our students and are working hard at home to ensure all our students will excel.

“I feel like Aspire has opened new doors to help me progress in my work, particularly in science and English. I am really looking forward to the future and feel much more confident that I will achieve my targets” said Justin of Year 11.

Sweet tasting DNA S Year 10 biology students have been learning Y a about the building blocks of life using nothing m more than Fruit Pastels and Midget Gems!

D DNA was first identified by James Watson and F Francis Crick and, together with Maurice Wilkins, w won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their d discovery of the structure o of DNA. This was one of the most significant scientific discoveries of the 20th century.

The Year 10 students have been creating their very own ‘Willy Wonka style’ nucleotides to study the finer details of DNA structure, as seen right.

Keyboard shortcuts Year 7 students have been learning how to play the keyboard during September - most had played a little at primary school, but some had never played at all. Each student was given a challenge to play an easy, medium, or hard song.

I tried hard to get passed the easier tunes and work on the hardest. I never thought I’d be able to play a full song with both hands on a keyboard in my first few weeks at secondary school.

I’m very happy I can do it. I want to play a pop song next!”

All took the challenge and tried their best to play the hardest song, a long version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Some, after mastering the right hand melody, tried to use their left hand to play chords too. A clever few even tried a pop version of the song using drum beats.

Not only did the pupils learn how to play, but they all performed their piece in front of the whole class. This is a massive achievement as performing can be nerve racking, especially in the first half term at secondary school! Music teacher, Ms Bagot said, “There are some very talented musicians in Year 7.

They’ve taken on the challenge with focus and confidence.”

One pupil said, “I’ve never played the keyboard before and

UCLAN visit Twenty Year 9 students recently took part in the very popular Routes into Languages MFL enrichment event at the University of Central Lancashire. The event is designed to motivate language learners and explore the opportunities that learning other languages can open up to them. The successful event encouraged pupils to aim higher and have aspirations for higher education. Students had a taster of what university is like and had an opportunity to take part in Russian and Arabic language taster sessions and awareness workshops. Feedback from students

positive was very very positiv ve with wiith over ove er 95% rating the dayy as good! Jodie Ebdon said, “I thoroughly enjoyed the Russian session and the lecture at the start.

I really love languages and would consider taking languages for GCSE.”

Calling all the e

Zero tolerance on bullying Z

Hello! We are the new Year 7 Eco Warriors and we have all recently been attending Ecogroup, every Thursday in the garden after school.l.

W We are the Anti-Bullying Ambassadors of B Blackpool Aspire Academy, a student committee w whose sole purpose is to stamp out bullying. Based in the Library, we train other students to spot the ssigns of bullying and to become Anti-Bullying A Ambassadors themselves.

T The program is a recent initiative driven by students, b bringing young people together, and giving We have been harvesting the last of the apples victims of bullying a voice, because at Blackpool from this year and raking the many leaves Aspire Academy we have a zero tolerance policy. that are falling. Autumn is here and we have Everyone deserves to feel safe both in and out been making the garden look splendid for the of school so it’s important school and its open day. It is a big responsibility and tha as ambassadors we that we are looking for more volunteers to help with rec recognise the early signs the many tasks we have to complete. Currently of bullying, then we can we are working towards a qualification called the int intervene and help.

John Muir Award, and next year we hope to go To Together we can stamp on some trips to look at conservation projects. ou bullying - thanks. out We look forward to seeing you at the Ecogroup.

A Aaron (Year 10) Anti-Bullying Ambassador A Happy raking! - Nicola, Liam and Charlie

All the sports news from the PE department

Bradie makes the grade Year 7 student Bradie has made an impressive start to secondary school life by becoming the talk of the PE department, impressing staff and classmates with her football credentials. Bradie is currently playing for Blackpool Ladies Under 12s as part of the youth set up at Blackpool Football Club.

football team and looks set to be the main focal point with the fantastic performance she gave in the latest school trials.

The Year 7 team host games to Unity and South Shore Academy this month and Bradie looks set to help out the side with her knowledge, ability and She enjoys playing in a forward professional experience. Aspire role on the pitch and has turned PE department are fully behind a lot of heads with her ability Bradie’s journey with Blackpool in most sports, and especially FC and wish her all the best as football, here at school. She she looks to progress further. has secured a place alongside ten other boys in the school Good Luck Bradie!

Year 7 Tournament Blackpool Aspire Academy hosted a mini Year 7 football tournament at PlayFootball recently, with teams from Unity and South Shore Academy also taking part. All three schools fielded two teams each in what turned out to be some very fast paced games and high standards of skill on display.

Latest football results Mr Errington (Year 7 football team head coach) said, “The players were a credit to the school and should be proud that they represented the school in the manner that they did”.

The Year 7 football team has only recently been put together and includes Bradie (see above), who earned ‘Player South Shore Academy eventually of the Tournament’, with performances won the tournament, but the commendable from Alex, Malachi, and Dillon. hard work and effort could not be faulted by any team involved. Mr Errington would like to say Staff and spectators were a big ‘Well Done!’ to his Year 7 impressed with the exemplary team and he is looking forward behaviour of the Aspire teams; to the next game.

Year 11 Boys verses Unity – won 7-3 Year 11 Boys verses South Shore (Current Blackpool Schools Champions) – lost 3-0 Year 10 Boys verses South Shore – lost 3-0 Year 8 Boys verses Unity – won 7-5

At Filmclub you get provided with popcorn, but you can bring your own snacks as well. For the films you have watched at Filmclub, and at home, you can write a review on the website. If you want to watch a film and it is a 12 or 15 you will have to get a form to fill out by your parents and then bring it in when it is signed.

Filmlub takes place every Tuesday, in the Library, at 3pm. You choose a film at www.filmclub.org and put it on your wish list, however the film you choose may not always be shown, it depends if other people have chosen that same film.

Mr Smith runs Filmclub. If you come to Filmclub four times you will get a Filmclub badge, a wristband, and a lanyard.

Written by a regular Filmclub attendee

You can find us online at: www.blackpoolaspireacademy.co.uk - www.facebook.com/blackpoolaspireacademy - @blackpoolaspire Inspire newsletter designed and printed by Mr Sheldon