Entitlement Curriculum Newsletter - Issue 6

Blackpool Aspire Academy

Entitlement

Extra-curricular activities -Spring term 2024

MONDAY

Brass, A4, 3.20-4.20pm

Excellence programme, Super lectures, 4-5pm, Blackpool Sixth, Miss Plancke

Y11 Breakfast revisions, D1, 8-8.30am, Miss Taylor

Film club, 3-5.30pm, library, Mr Lyons

TUESDAY

KS3 Art, C17, 3-4pm, Mrs Riley Boys Football (all year groups), SPH, 3-4pm

Percussion, A32, 3.15-4.15pm

GCSE Art, C17/C18, 3-4pm, Mrs Riley

GCSE Maths, B3-5-7, 3-5pm

GCSE Digitech, A3, 3-4pm, Mrs Matthews

DofE Y9-10 (specific dates, from October 2023), 3-4pm, B8, Miss Plancke

Pzazz, Drama studio, 3-4.30pm, Miss Mackay

Lego Club, Library, 3-4pm, Mrs Harley

WEDNESDAY

Strings, A4, 3.15-3.45pm

Geography club, C13, 3.15-4pm, Mr Butler

KS3 gym (invitation only), SPH, 3-4pm, Mr Ryder

Badminton, SPH, 3-4pm

Girls Football, SPH, 3-4pm

Golden Graduation, B10, 3.15-4.30pm, Miss Taylor

GCSE History, C12, Mr Carter

GCSE Art, C17/C18, 3-4pm, Mrs Riley

Letʼs talk, B1, lunch time, Mrs Gregory

THURSDAY

Chess, C9, 3-4pm, Mr Clarke

Woodwind, A4, 3-4pm

Percussion, A32, 3-4pm

KS4 Art, C17, 3-4pm, Mrs Riley

Singing, Piano, Keyboard, A4, 3-4.30pm

GCSE English, C1-6, 3-4pm, English department

GCSE, Geography, C13 to C15, 3-4pm, Mrs Stevenson/Mr Tock

GCSE Science, 3-4pm, science labs

GCSE Art, C17/C18, 3-4pm, Mrs Riley/Mr Iddon

GCSE Religious studies, C16, 3-4pm, Mr Butt

Science and CREST awards,Science and CREST awards, 3-4pm, B9, Miss Pitchers

Diversity Club, 3-4pm, Miss Gibson

FRIDAY

Chinese sessions, C7, 3-4pm, Mrs Barnett/Mrs Lumber

KS4 fitness club, SPH, 3-4pm

Table tennis, Hall, 3-4pm, Mr Clarke

Eco-committee, Eco-schools project, B8, 3-4pm, Miss Plancke

GCSE Business, A3, Mrs Matthews/Mr Buchanan

GCSE Art, C17/C18, 3-4pm, Mr Iddon/ Miss Riley

GCSE Sports studies, B15, Mrs Elson

EAL support group, B15/B16, Miss Litster/Mr Grihault

Dressmaking, C17, 3-4pm, Mrs Riley, (invite over a few weeks only)

Blackpool Aspire Academy is enhancing its Entitlement curriculum by proposing various events outside the local area once more this Summer term.

The MFL department is offering the opportunity to 40 students to visit Paris and its surroundings, 29th June - 1st July 2024

A visit of the House of Parliament in London and Big Ben will take place in July

Summer t erm e v ents

Pzazz Performing Arts Company has been running since 2015. All students are welcome to take part on a Tuesday after school. We have a rolling programme of events starting in September when we begin rehearsals for Schools Alive, which is usually a scene from the previous Summer show. We also practice for our Christmas rehearsals. We performed this year at the Winter Gardens for the Blackpool Music Service Christmas festival. On Tuesday 12thDecember 2023.

Blackpool Music Service Christmas Concert

Schools Alive

On 6th February 2024, Blackpool Aspire Academy’s Performing Arts Company, Pzazz took part in Blackpool Music Service’s Schools Alive at the Opera House. They performed scenes from the musical ‘High School Musical ‘. The performance was fantastic. Everyone involved worked so hard to produce the most polished performance.

All performers who took part were excellent and received a certificate from Blackpool Music Service for their amazing efforts.

National Youth Orchestra

On Monday 19th February, The National Youth Orchestra kinldy led a workshop at the Tower Ballroom for our Btec Music group and students attending music peripatetic lessons., followed by a full day of workshops in school on Tuesday 20th February. The 2 days were invaluable to students in gaining the skills needed to perform masterfully and as part of a full orchestra. The team also serenaded our students at lunchtime in the canteen and at the end of the day.

Faraday Day

IET

TThe IET Faraday ® Challenge Days are cross-curricular activity days covering Science, Design and Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). They are held at schools, organisations and universities around the UK and have proved to be enormously popular with teachers and students alike. The IET Faraday ® Challenge Days give students the opportunity to research, design and make solutions to real-life engineering problems. The event is set up and run by a team of STEM professionals and is an unbeatable opportunity for our students.

Blackpool Aspire Academy hosted a IET Faraday Challenge day on Tuesday, 14th November, inviting teams from Hodgson, Armfield and Montgomery academies.

The day was fantastic with our twelve Year 8 students enjoying the challenge of the brief and using skills and initiative to create a prototype, using sensors, motors and other electronic equipment, they were proud of. Congratulations to the Hodgson academy team for winning this regional heat and our best wishes go out to them for the next stage of the competition.

Many thanks to the teams from Armfield and Montgomery academies for joining in and presenting some great ideas too!

GCSE Science Live!

On Thursday, 25th January, sixty Year 10 and 11 students visited the Opera House in Manchester to attend GCSE Science Live! - a nationwide tour giving students the chance to see and hear five of Britain’s top scientists live on stage who are all working at the cutting edge of their specialisms.

Our students watched Dr Anna Ploszajski, an award-winning materials scientist and writer and Dr Kate Lancaster, a nuclear physicist. Dr Hannah Critchlow, a neuroscientist, took the students on a voyage of conscious discovery whilst Pr Robert Winston, discussed medical advances in fertility and reproduction. Dr Tim Gabriel, Lecturer in Chemical Sciences at Manchester Metropolitan University, presented his research interests including electrochemistry, nanostructure fabrication and electrode materials.

The students also gained top tips from a chief examiner and were given a programme of events that had past questions on it and examiners tips.

GCSE Poetry Live

On Tuesday, 30th January, sixty Year 11 students went to the Opera House in Manchester to attend GCSE Poetry live - a nationwide tour giving students the chance to see and hear some of Britain’s most awarded poets.

Our students had the privilege to listen to Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, one of Britain’s best poets, with a superb ear for language. This was a great opportunity to hear Simon read his work from the anthology.

Carol Ann Duffy was an inspiring and transformational Poet Laureate from 2009 to 2019. Her sharp, funny poems were full of a literary past, whether from mythology, or Shakespeare. John Agard gave one of the most exciting performances in contemporary poetry, not only in the way he delivered his poems, but also in how he talked about them, combining historical awareness, cultural insight and extraordinary humour. Students also listened to readings from award-winning poets Imtiaz Dharker and Daljit Nagra. The students also gained top tips from a chief examiner and were given a programme of events that had past questions on it and examiners tips.

Poetry Workshops

Students across all year groups had the privilege to work alongside Nathan Parker this half term - six days of stories and poetry on the 11th, 12th, 18th, 19th, 25th and 26th of January.

Writing on his various social media platforms, Nathan said, "Great to be back on my feet today and spending another class day at Asprie Academy. Top workshops across the school, awesome to see and hear pupils come alive with confidence and thought re: stories and poetry.

"It was also fantastic to hear from teachers who are building schemes of work around my book, Words for Whatever, which was one of the things I hoped for whilst developing it. Buzzing! Big thanks, as ever, to the students and staff."

Many thanks to Nathan for joining the English department and providing such engaging workshops for our students and staff.

Blackpool’s first major public art trail brought by Brian House's Children's Hospice, in partnership with Wild in Art and Andersen Press will see 30 large Elmer sculptures inspired by David McKee’s beloved children’s books, each uniquely decorated by established and up and coming national and local artists, creating a parade through the town that will be enjoyed by visitors and locals for eight weeks in Spring/Summer 2024.

The sculptures, which are all being sponsored by businesses and organisations, will be placed around key landmarks, streets, and open spaces across Blackpool, enjoyed by visitors who will be encouraged to visit as many as possible. The large sculptures will be joined by a herd of smaller Elmers which will be decorated by the Fylde coast’s creative children and young people through primary and secondary schools, alongside a dedicated learning programme, and displayed inside some of the town’s tourist, cultural and leisure locations.

Blackpool Aspire Academy will be joining in the trail. More to be revealed in April!

Elmer Art Trail

Masterclasses

Sp ace Academy

Students in 10xy/Ph1 and 10xy/Ph2 classes

had the opportunity to take part in Space Academy Masterclasses on Wednesday, 7th February, 2024.

The students investigated the science of asteroids, exploring how much energy they have and the possible outcomes of Earth impacts. They also explored hands on demonstrations of Newton's laws of motions as well as the forces and fuels behind rocket launching and space exploration.

A great workshop which brought the teaching of the Physics Forces and Space units to life. Thank you to the Space Academy Team for supporting our students and allowing them to experience this.

Students at Blackpool Aspire Academy have been taking part in the Fylde Sand Dune Project since the spring of 2021.

The Fylde sand dunes are an important feature of the coastline, covering approximately 80 hectares between Starr Gate in the north and Lytham in the south. Unfortunately, over the past 150 years, more than 80% of our sand dunes have been lost. This loss is mainly due to the urban expansion of our coastal towns. However, while much depleted, the remaining dunes along the Fylde coast make up more than 90% of Lancashire’s sand dunes, and still form the most significant part of the Borough’s coastal defence. It is therefore important that we protect and conserve this valuable asset to our coastline.

Students from the academy were invited to support once more at the start of February and help plant the unwanted Christmas trees along the shoreline to act as defenses against storms and sea surges.

Fylde Coast Sand Dune Project

Rise ChallengeYear 10 Career workshop

Students in 10xy/Ph1 and 10xy/Ph2 classes had the opportunity to take part in a new Rise Challenge STEM Career workshop on Friday, 2nd February, 2024.

Students took part in a series of curriculum-linked challenges designed to engage them to work collaboratively, create tasks that are linked to both the curriculum and future careers, build confidence, develop skills that are both familiar to the classroom and relevant to the workplace. They also had the opportunity to talk to and work with local business volunteers, who kindly took the time to support the event on the day. Many thanks to all!

Mandarin sessions Chinese club

Our Chinese club is open to KS3 students every Friday after school from 3pm to 4pm. The sessions are run by Chinese teachers from the Confucius Institute and we are very lucky to have native speaking teachers deliver these sessions every week.

Students learn a mixture of Mandarin and Chinese culture and also take part in Chinese crafts and activities. So far they have learnt how to greet each other in Mandarin, count to 10 and take part in dialogues. They are currently learning traditional Chinese songs and how to describe the various parts of the body.

For more information, students are welcome to come along and discuss opportunities with Mrs Barnett or Mrs Lumber.

MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING WORKSHOPS

Our students have access to a wide range of workshops or sessions to discuss how they feel and to receive support if needed:

Discussions with the mental health nurse during drop-in sessions (see posters in form rooms)

5 to 10 min of mindfulness sessions every week as part of their PSHE lesson

Let’s talk and mindfulness with Mrs Gregory every Wednesday, lunchtime, C1

The Excellence Academy

The Excellence academy is a three year long programme of debates, which starts in Year 9 and will carry on with further workshops in Year 10 called ‘Peace and Conflict’ and Year 11In the Autumn term, students are welcome to attend the Super Curricular lectures, held on Mondays from 4pm at the Sixth Form college. The lectures are varied throughout the year. So far, our students have taken time to discuss political events and policies with Paul Maynard, MP; learn about Artaud and his vision of theatre and engage with Dr Nick Lister, Astronomer at Lawrence House Astronomy & Space Science Centre.

Blackpool Sixth form college

Super Curricular lectures

2023/24

Mondays - 4 pm at the Sixth form College

For more information and/or a letter please

Contact Miss Plancke in B8 or at p.plancke@aspire.fcat.org.uk

The science of the perfect cup of coffee!

Dave Williams

Becoming multilingual

Jon Mcleod - Pre-recorded talk

The boy who was turned into a girl

Stephanie Benson - Pre-recorded talk

An introduction to indigenous literatures and discourse

Lucy Lavery, Salford University PHO student

What do Pokemon and maths have in common?

Callum Barnes

How to be a philosopher

Ken Walton

Artificial intelligence -threat or hype?

Joe Mathews

Increasing working class voices in politics

Lorraine Beavers (Labour Party Parliamentary Candidate for Blackpool North and Fleetwood)

Building Rwanda after the genocide Heather Danyadi

Is the Literary Canon dead? Attitudes towards mortality

Natalie Collister & Michelle Townsend - Pre-recorded

Uncontacted tribes

Matthew Morris

STEM: Graduates of the Future

Jon Turner, Lancaster University

The Excellence Academy

In May and June 2024, some of our Year 10 students will be taking part in the Excellence Programme at Blackpool Sixth Form, focusing on power and conflict around the globe and in particular Afghanistan and Iraq.

They will have the privilege of meeting Sgt Rick Clement, a veteran of Northern Ireland and Afghanistan, who stepped on a bomb during the 2010 conflict losing both his legs and walked in public for the first time at a Remembrance Sunday service

The last week will see them debating at the Blackpool Town Hall. Our selected students will receive their letters soon.