Looking back on 2016. A year of success.

Norham High School

LOOKING BACK ON 2016 A year of success.

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WELCOME TO OUR REVIEW OF 2016 This annual review looks back on a year of fantastic progress and success for the school, which we wanted to share with you.

It has been a year of real change and growth for everyone involved with Norham High School, including staff, pupils, governors and partners.

We’ve been on a challenging and inspiring journey with numerous highlights along the way, culminating in our best ever GCSE results in the summer, with pupils meeting and in many cases exceeding the challenging targets we set for them.

We are all exceptionally proud of what we’ve achieved this year and we hope you enjoy reading about some of the highlights.

David Baldwin

David W Bavaird

Executive Headteacher

Chair of Governors

Our values At Norham High School we offer all of our pupils the highest quality of education in a safe, happy and caring environment.

Each child is valued and nurtured as an individual and has the support they need to succeed, academically and personally.

We stretch and challenge our pupils every day, helping them to aim higher and always believe in themselves.

We also set very high standards for behaviour in class and behaviour towards each other, both inside and out of school.

As a result, Norham High School is a wonderful place to learn.

All of our pupils, regardless of their background or ability, receive: • High quality teaching so they can achieve their

full potential

• Excellent pastoral care and support • An exciting curriculum that inspires them to learn • Support to raise their aspirations and achieve success • Extra curricular activities that motivate and

excite them.

LEARNING AND SKILLS. 2016 was the year that: 54% of pupils achieved 5 or more A*–C grades

60 Year 7 pupils completed SkillForce training

including English and Maths

XXX of our Year 11 pupils went on to study A-Levels

Our pupils gained their best ever GCSE results

Year 7 pupils completed SkillForce training

An impressive 54% of our Year 11 pupils achieved 5

Our Year 7 pupils completed SkillForce training this

or more A*to C grades including English and Maths in

year, building their confidence, resilience, leadership

2016, a 19% increase on the results achieved in 2015.

and teamwork and gaining key skills in navigation,

• 54% of pupils achieved 5 or more A*–C

junior sports leadership and first aid. Their hard work

Pupils and staff worked exceptionally hard towards these results and we’re already looking at how we can achieve even better results this year.

More of our pupils went on to further education XXX of our Year 11 pupils went on to study A-Levels at Queen Alexandra Sixth Form College, our partner sixth form, following their 2016 GCSE results. Their A-level choices spanned a huge spectrum of subject choices, from XXXX to XXXX.

meant they all received the Junior Prince’s Award from SkillForce.

GCSE result headlines grades including English and Maths

• 74% of pupils achieved A*–C in English • 66% of pupils achieved A*–C in Science • 62% achieved A*–C in Maths • 73% achieved A*–C in Computer Science.

SUPPORTING OUR PUPILS. 2016 was the year that: We opened our brand new Learning Resource Centre

We re-vamped our school reception

We strengthened our relationship with Churchill Community College

Our staff proved that they’re awardwinning!

We completed our brilliant new Learning

We strengthened our supportive relationship

Teaching Assistant Dean Miller won

Resource Centre

with Churchill Community College

a national award

We were really proud of our brand new Learning

Staff from Churchill and Norham have been sharing

Dean Miller was praised for his dedication in the

Resource Centre.

their expertise, which has had a big impact, especially

Teaching Personnel’s Teaching Assistant of the Year

on GCSE results. All staff have been determined

Awards.

It features the latest IT equipment, teaching screens, library facilities, comfy seating and mood lighting and is really popular with everyone.

The main entrance to our school was also given a fresh new look as part of our ongoing changes.

The refurbishment represents the huge, internal transformations that have taken place at Norham over the year.

We’d like to thank North Tyneside Council for their support with both projects.

to make a difference and ensure students get the education they deserve.

Dean’s imaginative approach to supporting the

We’ll continue our close partnership throughout

character ‘Norman from Norham’ who helps pupils

2017 to raise educational standards and build on

understand what is expected of them in school.

our success.

school earned him his award, particularly his fictional

WORKING WITH OTHERS. 2016 was the year that: Our Year 8 girls re-designed Norham Road Bridge

More than 300 Year 5 and 6 pupils took part in Primary Masterclass sessions

We hosted 11 ‘Young at Heart’ club visits

We welcomed hundreds of primary school

The challenge, set by Capita and North Tyneside

pupils into our school

Council, involved a range of planning activities then

Almost 300 pupils from our local primary schools took part in Maths, English, Science and Technology Masterclasses at Norham, getting involved in everything from cookery to dissecting hearts!

We also welcomed over 100 pupils for a special PE day and hundreds more to take part in one-off events like our Viking-themed day.

We designed a replacement for the Norham Road Bridge!

Our Year 8 girls celebrated national Women into Engineering Day by designing a bridge to replace the one currently on Norham Road.

pupils had to present their ideas back to judges including female engineers, who were extremely impressed by their proposals.

It was an inspiring event and a great opportunity for our pupils to find out about career options in engineering.

We celebrated a year of inter-generational friendship Our ‘Young at Heart’ friendship group marked its first birthday in December. The group brings our pupils and older local residents together in school each month to spend quality time together, enjoying a shared lunch and activities including knitting, sewing and computing.

A huge thank you We’d like to thank everyone who has supported us this year, including all of our parents, carers and those who live in our local community.

We’d especially like to thank our partners and other supporters, particularly: • North Tyneside Council

• Teeside University

• TyneMet College

• The Phoenix Detached Youth Project

• Queen Alexandra Sixth Form

• Capita

• Staff at Collingwood Primary School, Meadowell

• Churchill Community College

Primary School, New York Primary School,

Percy Main Primary School and Waterville

Primary School.

• YMCA North Tyneside

• SkillForce • Sound Training

Our year ahead We are really proud of what we have achieved as a school in 2016, but we are not complacent. We have set ourselves even more ambitious goals for 2017 and beyond, and we are on track to achieve those targets.

Our focus will be on continuing to stretch and challenge our pupils, raising their aspirations, boosting their self-belief and supporting them as individuals, so they can reach their full potential and gain the skills and qualifications they need to succeed.

We’ll also continue to work closely with North Tyneside Council and Churchill Community College to ensure that standards of teaching and support remain high right across the school.

We can’t wait to see the successes 2017 will bring.

Highlights Just some of the further highlights from our year: Our pupils seriously improved their reading skills Sound Training really helped our pupils to race ahead with their reading last year.

The teaching method helps pupils understand complex words by teaching the meanings of the components, first.

Pupils are expected to achieve around 27 months of reading age progress following the programme, but our Year 11 pupils achieved an average 46 months progress and some of our Year 7 pupils a startling 90 months of progress in just six weeks.

Budding engineers built their own fantastic racing car Our Year 7 STEM club pupils built their very own Formula 24 electric racing car and took it for a spin at the famous Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire, racing it against other cars from across the region.

A lot of work went into the project, including the

Year 10 pupils involved in the activities say it has been

application of engineering, maths, physics and

a brilliant experience and helped them to think about

chemistry principles.

their future career choices.

It was a fantastic opportunity to gain hands-on

We were recognised by the National Citizenship

experience in engineering and the car even featured

Service

on the local news! We’d like to thank Michael Burton, Head of Engineering, Construction and IT at TyneMet

We are proud to be named a ‘champion school’ by the

College, who supported the pupils.

National Citizen Service (NCS).

We developed a special partnership with

The NCS is a government-backed programme that

Teesside University

helps young people gain vital skills and training.

Our pupils have been working with Teesside University

We were awarded champion status because of our

on research into perceptions about alcohol and proposals for new GCSEs. The partnership involves Professor Dorothy NewburyBirch from Teesside University, who is a former Norham High School pupil.

commitment to encouraging pupils to take part – with 11 of our Year 11 pupils giving up their own time to take part in the summer holidays.

Our School Council took a trip to Parliament Our School Council visited the Houses of Parliament as a reward for their dedication and hard work this year.

The visit was part of an award from North Tyneside Council in recognition of our School Council’s work, particularly around fundraising for local charities

We ruled the waves A group of pupils took to the seas on a day long sailing

They transformed an unused plot of land with recycled materials to create a new place where children with disabilities and additional needs could play.

including food banks.

expedition organised by YMCA North Tyneside.

We impressed local employers

The group sailed the James Cook, a 70ft sailing boat, learning how to work as a team, tie different knots and

Our staff slept rough in a North Shields car park with

Our pupils received glowing praise from employers

prepare the boat for sea. The event really developed

only cardboard boxes for comfort, to highlight youth

following a careers showcase at school.

our pupils’ confidence and we’d like to thank YMCA

homelessness in North Tyneside as well as raise vital

North Tyneside, the Ocean Youth Trust and ASDAN for

funds to support young people in housing crisis.

The ‘World of Work’ (WoW) event gave Year 10 pupils the chance to meet local business leaders and grill them about their jobs.

Organisations taking part included Tyne North

making it possible.

The sleep-out was organised by YMCA North Tyneside.

We created a sensory garden at the

It was a tough night out in the cold but it was a really

Tim Lamb Centre

important cause to support. It also raised money

Training, Barnardos, the RAF, Northumbria Police,

A group of green-fingered Year 9 pupils gave up their

Northumbrian Water, Durasic, Capita, Wolf IT, HMRC,

weekend time to create a beautiful sensory garden for

VODA, Kirkley Hall and Sunderland University.

children with additional needs.

It was such a success that we held another event later

They worked with the Foundation Futures charity to

in the year with Churchill Community College involving

develop the garden at the Tim Lamb Centre in Benton.

even more students and employers.

We took part in a sleep-out to help the homeless

to pay for important work in the community with young people.

We can’t wait to see the successes 2017 will bring.