In The Spotlight #16 - Chorlton High School - Newsletter, Spring 2019

IN THE

CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE SPRING 2019

WIZARD OF OZ WOWS CHS ALSO INSIDE: GOLD SCIENCE MARK WINNER YOUTH BUZZ AWARDS GOLDEN YEAR OF READING TWICKENHAM RUGBY STARS

HELLO...

Welcome to the latest edition of In the Spotlight.

We are excited to bring you all of our fantastic news, highlights and successes here at Chorlton High School.

We began the year celebrating the receipt of the prestigious GOLD Science Mark, in recognition of the excellent work undertaken by our Science department.

Our fantastic library was part of another successful Chorlton Book Festival with a series of literary events, concluding with the ever popular Chorlton Children’s Book Award.

An amazing cast of The Wizard of Oz staged a brilliant theatrical production, providing an enjoyable beginning to the festive period and conclusion to the term with song, dance and entertainment across three festive evenings.

We have also continued our empathetic Community pledge; #WeStandTogether, organising a number of charity events and drive, helping to celebrate a culture of kindness and support our rich tradition of positive and successful collaborative work, both in school and beyond.

You can keep up to date with all of our exciting news, activities and updates, by following our CHS Twitter account; @chorltonhigh. You can also subscribe to receive our fortnightly, email newsletter; Chorlton Connection. To subscribe please forward your email address to: admin@chorltonhigh.manchester.sch.uk RICHARD STOUT COMMUNITY AND MARKETING OFFICER AND IN THE SPOTLIGHT EDITOR

INSIDE THIS ISSUE...

GOLD STANDARD SCIENCE

HOUSES OF 7 PARLIAMENT VISIT 2-3

OPEN EVENING BUZZ AWARDS

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Chorlton High School has been awarded the prestigious GOLD Science Mark, in recognition of the excellent work undertaken by our Science department.

Science Mark is a quality standard, designed to recognise and celebrate inspirational practice in secondary science departments across the UK. It was created by STEM Learning to recognise and celebrate best practice in science departments across the UK. Schools and colleges receive the Science Mark when they can show that they are delivering inspiring lessons for students and demonstrate their department’s commitment to high-quality science education.

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WIZARD OF OZ

GOLD STANDARD SCIENCE

BOOK AWARD YEAR OF READING

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Adam Little, Professional Development Leader at STEM Learning, said:

WORKING LUNCH 12 HEALTHY AWARD 12 ANTI-BULLYING 12

“We are delighted to congratulate Chorlton High School on receiving the GOLD Science Mark. Being awarded Science Mark is such a prestigious achievement because the assessment process is so rigorous, ensuring the programme is a true hallmark of quality science teaching. Each school and college who receives Science Mark has demonstrated a real and ongoing commitment to excellent science education in their school. Chorlton High School is a great example of this.”

Zoe Morris, CHS Headteacher, commented:

ELE DAY

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CHS RUGBY STARS 10

REMEMBRANCE 13 RENEWED

ACTS OF KINDNESS

CHS COMMUNITY 13 PLEDGE

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“This is wonderful news which follows on from a set of outstanding GCSE results in Science this summer. It is great to see that the fantastic work of our Science department and the commitment shown by our students has been recognised at such a high level nationally. Well done to all!”

CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL IN THE SPOTLIGHT

WIZARD OF OZ: A SPECTACULAR SHOW

Considered one of the greatest films of all time and many will agree that this film has fond memories for us all.

Created in 1939 and written by Edgar Harburg (Lyrics) and Harold Arlen (Music) for Metro Goldwyn Meyer studios. Originally adapted from a children’s book ‘The Wonderful Wizard of OZ’ by L Frank Baum. The film catapulted the much loved Judy Garland into stardom as Dorothy Gale with her iconic rendition of’ Somewhere over the rainbow’.

The story is set in Kansas but then sends its heroine into a tornado that lands her in the magical land of OZ. Dorothy is accompanied by her trusty

companion, Toto the dog (we had a real one this year!). She faces challenges and tribulations throughout her journey to make her way back home. She makes many friends along the way such as scarecrow who feels he is missing a brain, Tin Man who has no heart and the cowardly lion (not a great characteristic to have if you are a lion).

Dorothy is also helped along her way by the good witch Glinda and the munchkins to defeat the evil dastardly wicked witch of the west and her Winkie Army, who want to snatch the ruby slippers that Dorothy is wearing.

Eventually Dorothy and friends arrive in the Emerald City and are permitted to see the Wizard, who appears as a large

The Arts Department at Chorlton High School would like to celebrate our 14th Musical performance. The production this year was the classic and much loved ‘Wizard of OZ’.

ghostly head surrounded by fire and smoke. He agrees to grant their wishes if they prove their worth by bringing him the Witch’s broomstick. Dorothy has to track down her arch enemy in the enchanted forest and defeat the Winkie army if she has any chance of returning to Kansas!

Did she do it? Of course she did!

The cast delivered yet again another spectacular show! We had a real dog and paratechnics for the witches entrance.

This was by far the most challenging show to date and we really have raised the bar for next year. The standard of commitment and creativity was very impressive yet again from all the students involved which continues to blow the arts department away.

We also were able to raise money for Centrepoint Manchester the young peoples homeless charity. Thank you again to everyone who contributed and supported this cause that is really close to our hearts at CHS. The musical does not happen over night and I would just like to thank eveyone involved all of the arts & support staff who give up their free time. Also the parents and carers who offer lifts and get students to rehearsals in the dark nights, we really could not have done it without you!MRS RANSOME MUSICAL DIRECTOR

CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL IN THE SPOTLIGHT

OPEN EVENING

On Wednesday 26th September, we enjoyed another fantastic Open Evening.

Our visitors were met in our reception and were warmly welcomed into the Blue Box Theatre where our Head Teacher Ms. Morris, offered an exciting introduction to the evening.

Presenting an inspiring speech, Ms. Morris celebrated our recent excellent exam results and announced our new CHS Learning Journey, developed to encourage every student towards a path of creative, happy and successful learning. One of our fantastic students also delivered a brilliant and enthusiastic ‘Ignite’ speech to describe the vast range of learning opportunities she has experienced here at CHS. Parents, carers and visitors were then able to explore all of our curriculum departments, enjoy our facilities and experience a wide range of fun activities, games and workshops. Our inspirational staff were on hand to encourage participation, conversation and discussion. Answering questions on curriculum, our values and continued student achievement. Our students represented themselves amazingly well, showcasing their academic, musical, artistic and sporting talents whilst providing a lively and fun atmosphere throughout the evening.

YOUTH BUZZ AWARDS 2018 Launched in November 2012, Manchester Youth Council (MYC) is a forum that represents the views of young people. This year, MYC has organised the Youth Buzz Awards 2017 as a new way to celebrate the positive work of young people across Manchester.

Some of the evenings highlights included: a desert island challenge based on the GCSE text, Lord of the Flies, a French food tasting Café, a creative debate and writing activity, open rehearsals for our upcoming production of ‘The Wizard of Oz’, interactive ‘Mathletics’ activities, sports action in our gym and a science department full of experiments!

The evening came to a close as successful treasure hunters received goodie bags filled with prizes for finding 5 of our CHS Qualities of Success symbols hidden all around our school. Our visitors also left with a prospectus pack, full of primary transition information and exciting details of life here at Chorlton High School.

We would like to thank all of our hard working students and staff, and everyone who attended our Open Evening for helping to create and support another fantastic event!

On Friday 30th November we were treated to a superb evening at THE BUZZ AWARDS, held at the Radisson Hotel; a 3 course meal, outstanding performances and thought provoking stories about the amazing young people in our city.

This was the second annual Buzz Award ceremony, created to recognise the hard work, effort, talent and dedication of young people in Manchester.

We were delighted to have two nominations - Ralf and Sonny, Year 8 students for their Refugee Charity

Campaign and Year 11 student Bryher Bell for outstanding academic achievement.

Bryher came runner up and was treated to a trophy and certificate whilst Sonny and Ralf won their category winning £100 amazon vouchers!

We are extremely grateful to the Manchester Youth Buzz Awards and Manchester Youth Council for once again recognising the hard work and dedication our students demonstrate every day both in and out of school.

Congratulations to all our winners and nominees for your amazing efforts, you have once again shown that we are a school who prides ourselves on kindness and creativity in our own community and beyond.

Manchester Youth Council is run by young people for young people and provides opportunities for young people in Manchester to have a voice and make a difference.

CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL IN THE SPOTLIGHT

CHS AT THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT 27 of our Year and Year 11 History students recently travelled to London and visited Parliament.

Our aim at CHS is to nurture and develop each student to go further faster. We support this by providing a range of Extended Learning Experiences (ELE Days) where we offer a range of creative and exciting opportunities for our students beyond their regular timetable.

They were chosen for this trip because of their interests in politics and got to watch Diane Abbott, Jeremy Hunt and Justine Greening in session in the House of Commons debating Brexit.

Later they met with Jeff Smith MP and showed just how politically aware they were with some fantastic questions:

Will leaving the EU affect us as students?

Do you think we should get the vote at 16?

When we’re able to vote, will we be able to go back into the EU? If we have a good place in the EU, why did we decide to leave?

Say things go Theresa May’s way, do you think she is prepared for the consequences?

Do you believe in private education?

What is your opinion of Jeremy Corbyn?

Afterwards they received a glowing response from a member of public about ‘restoring faith in young people’!

Would you still help the Labour Party when you’re not an MP? Do you as an MP pay tax?

These innovative and exciting days are developed to support further learning and creativity, and also widen students’ experiences. Participation in these exciting activities helps to open up new horizons and opportunities for our students to discover talents, passions and hobbies that they may never have considered before.

A highlight of the day was the exceptional work created in Art and Technology by the young artists, dancers and bakers of Year 7. They had enormous fun drawing, painting, stirring, icing, moving and dancing, all whilst exploring the ‘Day of the Dead’, a Mexican festival and celebration of community, family and remembrance.

To end our Extended Learning Experience Day we invited Noah’s A.R.T to bring their therapy animals and provide our Year 11 students with a therapeutic and relaxing way to unwind before their Half Term holiday.

SILVER AND BRONZE ARTS MARK SUCCESS! One of our Year 11 students has successfully passed their Silver Arts Award and 34 of our Year 8 students have been awarded bronze.

Our thanks to all staff and students who helped to make our latest ELE Day such an amazing success!

CLASSFEST - YEAR 8 CAREER SPEED NETWORKING EVENT Speed networking provides our students with a five minute window to meet, question and discuss future employment opportunities and sectors

with a wide range of individuals and organisations over an hours lesson.

This fast paced and fun event concluded another successful week long CLASSfest, and we would like to thank all of our guests and visitors for helping to enrich the learning and study options for our Year 8 students.

CHS students have been working hard to develop their performances, resilience and communication skills, whilst studying the issues related to Child Soldiers in Africa. Students took part in a series of workshops as part of the Arts Award course, where they were asked to share a particular skill. This year, our Year 8’s shared a powerful performance to a Year 10 GCSE Drama class, helping to highlight the negative situations and ways

children can be treated in Africa. After the performance, our performers received a range of feedback from their Year 10 audience and were able to use this as a way to improve their technique and skills.

We are extremely proud of all of the students involved and we look forward to further supporting their journey as they begin Year 9!

CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL IN THE SPOTLIGHT

CHORLTON BOOK FESTIVAL 2018

As part of Chorlton High School’s Year of Reading, a different promotion has been taking place in the library, each month in the Autumn term.

September started off with a celebration of all things Roald Dahl, including Golden tickets for books hidden in the library, a Gobble funk competition and the introduction of the library “Golden Tie”.

CHORLTON CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2018 Seven books, One Vote You decided…

On Monday 3 December, 32 students from Chorlton High School were joined by 17 students from Brookburn Primary School for a fantastic Celebration Event in the library for the Chorlton Children’s Book Award. The local Book Award seeks to find Chorlton’s best loved book for children aged 9-12.

Children from schools all over the area have been avidly reading and voting for the seven books on the shortlist over the Autumn term. Everyone was eager to see if the book they had voted for, would be the winner!

In a very closely fought battle, the magical The Wizards of Once

by Cressida Cowell beat off close rival Kick by Mitch Johnson.

The Wizards of Once is the first in a new series. Complete with amazing illustrations by Cressida herself, this is an imaginative and unpredictable adventure. It’s the story of a young boy Wizard and a young girl Warrior who have been taught since birth to hate each other like poison; and the thrilling tale of what happens when their two worlds collide. But have they been too busy fighting that an ancient evil has returned unnoticed behind their backs?

All the books on the shortlist can be found in the library.

Winning students were given a goody bag, including a Golden tie to wear for a few days. This was even better than a golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory, as it allowed students to jump the queues in the canteen. Ms Trunchball would never have authorised it!

October was all about poetry, with competitions and prizes and a poetry trail around school. The theme was change and we had some wonderful entries for our “If today.. then tomorrow..” poem.

All the finalists will have their poem made into a postcard. A particular favourite was “If today I fall then tomorrow I’ll stand tall.” Well done to everyone who took part. Our second competition was to pen a poem about change and huge congratulations to our winning poet, Francesca Pertoldi from Year 11 with a stunning poem called Genesis. Well done to runner up Hannah Jowell-McHugh in Year 10. They both received Book tokens.

Feeling Frazzled? Pick up a book!

Reading for just 10 minutes a day can make you feel calmer and provide a welcome escape. Chorlton High School took part in the Read Manchester

campaign Take Ten, launched on World Mental Health Day on the 10 October.

Students read for 10 minutes at the end of Period 2.

Inspiring Leaders was our theme in November, when students wrote about who inspires them the most. We had entries for friends, Mums and Dads and the more famous such as Rosa Parks. It was certainly inspiring reading them!

Well done to everyone who took part.

“Get comfy with a book” in December, saw the corner of the library transformed into a miniature living room, complete with sofa and fireplace. The “reading corner” was a huge hit with students who kicked off their shoes and got cosy. As well as the traditional tinsel and baubles, the Christmas tree was covered in gift tags, promoting favourite books of students. So those not sure of what to read, could just check out the Christmas tree. Students have also been able to pick up a present from under the tree for a surprise winter read. Ms Hockey and Ms Rodger wrapped up some of their favourite books and put just a few hints on them to give everyone a little clue about what they were choosing!

CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL IN THE SPOTLIGHT

ACTS OF KINDNESS Last year, we created and ran our 12 Days of Kindness calendar, receiving a fantastic response to this campaign and our wider community pledge; #WeStandTogether.

Our aim is to have each form, of each year group, complete all or any of the acts during the festive season, either in school, at home or in their community, and use this experience to spark discussion and ideas for further, future acts and events.

Our students, along with our staff, have helped to drive our campaign magnificently, sharing random acts of kindness, good news, behaviour and practice on a daily basis.

We want to build upon all of our previous charity and community work to help continue to successfully embed a culture of kindness across Chorlton High School.

Our student council have already proved instrumental with their feedback, helping to encourage numerous examples of kind and empathetic behaviour across our school.

COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS PARTY A selection of our student CHS rugby players, alongside Broughton Park RFC, received an invitation to attend Twickenham to enjoy an incredible day as part of the opening celebrations for the England vs South Africa International!

On Tuesday 11th December, Chorlton High school welcomed invited guests and visitors to attend our annual Community Christmas Party.

The event was an overwhelming experience, with our students playing a 20minute game of touch rugby before kick-off on the famous pitch. Some of our students then took part in a live interview, broadcast across the stadium screens, to discuss their love of the game and the benefits playing rugby has brought them.

Every year, we look forward to presenting an afternoon of festive cheer and entertainment, helping to both begin the Christmas period and celebrate our wider communities.

They then toured the team changing rooms and met with Ugo Monye, former England International, and Rugby pundit,

for an exciting and rewarding Q&A session, with a special mention to one of our successful students for beating Ugo in a thumb wrestling war!

To round off an amazing day, our CHS stars proudly formed a guard of honour for the teams of England and South Africa as they entered the pitch and sang the National Anthem in front of the crowd and players, before taking their seats to watch and enjoy the game.

Upon arrival, our guests were escorted to the Blue Box Theatre where they enjoyed a buffet lunch before the performance began. A Year 8 Christmas choir provided a festive introduction to the party and our impeccable Year 8 student helpers worked hard to continue the warm,

friendly atmosphere by serving and talking with our guests. All students enjoyed their roles and agreed it had been a very rewarding experience.

After lunch, our cast of Year 7, 8 and 9 students took to the stage and our guests settled in for their matinee performance of the ‘Wizard of Oz. A fantastic array of talent, from actors to dancers, musicians and singers, helped to create an exciting and lively musical production. With our guests remarking on the quality and professionalism of our cast.

We would like to thank all of our guests and visitors for attending our Community Christmas Party and helping to make it such a fantastic day!

CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL IN THE SPOTLIGHT

HEALTHY SCHOOLS SILVER AWARD We are delighted to announce we have recently achieved the Healthy Schools Silver Award for our work with Manchester Healthy Schools’ Programme over the last academic year (2017-2018).

The Manchester Healthy Schools team has been working in partnership with Manchester schools for nearly two decades to tackle health inequalities and help improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people.

We have received this award as recognition for the outstanding health priority work undertaken by our school as part of our ongoing community wide drive and we excitedly look forward to attending the upcoming awards ceremony at Co-op Academy North Manchester on 7th November 2018.

CHS COMMUNITY PLEDGE

A huge thank you to our staff and students for their hard work and effort, thanks also to the team of health improvement practitioners for their guidance and dedication over the last year.

WORKING LUNCH Our CHS Achievement team have recently began a series ‘working lunches’ to provide our students with opportunities to reach out into the world of Business and Enterprise. Working with the offices of Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester and our and our local business champion Jonny Kidd from Media Clarity Ltd we have organised a series of meetings between our students and successful business women and men.

We were visited on Friday 5th October 2018 by Heather Corbett Marketing Manager from Innovation First inc who develops robotic and scientific toys.

Heather spoke to our keen Year 8 and 9 students about her journey and career in electronics and marketing, answering numerous student questions and reflecting on her 2012 Young Marketer of the Year award.

Our CHS Community Pledge has inspired students to get involved in their local and wider community. So far this term our students have:

During our recent anti-bullying week our students focused on how we can make it clear to all that bullying is unacceptable at Chorlton High School.

After researching some wonderful resources from @ABAonline , @BulliesOut and #IWitnessBullying they have worked together to create an anti-bullying charter.

It has been simplified, turned into a poster and is visible throughout the school. Our students felt that sometimes it was hard to take the first step so they’ve added a confidential email service that will be monitored by our pastoral staff.

Together we can tackle bullying and instil RESPECT.

• Arranged a food bank collection for Barakah food aid to take place before Christmas.

• Organised a sponsored silence that is taking place for Children In Need.

• Organised a cupcake stall at Levenshulme market to raise awareness and money for Period Poverty.

• Planned a bake sale for students to raise awareness and money for Children In Need.

Feeling inspired by their time with Heather, our students excitedly remarked afterwards that they had been given a great opportunity to reflect and think about a career in marketing and innovation!

ANTI BULLYING CHARTER

• Completed a sponsored swim to raise awareness and money for homelessness, £170!

• Started to plan for an evening showcase of Dance and Music to raise money and awareness for homelessness.

...and this is only the beginning!

MACMILLAN COFFEE MORNING During the Autumn Term, we held another of our successful parents’ events, inviting parents and carers to enjoy a morning of conversation over coffee and cake. Our guests were welcomed to our Green room with a wonderful selection of cakes, laid out, with help of our student helpers and enthusiastic staff.

We would like to thank everyone for attending our Macmillan Coffee Morning and for their fantastic donations. The event raised a fantastic £160!

REMEMBRANCE RENEWED Intergenerational Event with Chorlton Good Neighbours.

November this year was all about remembering the centenary of the Armistice in 1918 but just how do different generations approach remembrance and can they learn from each other’s insights?

This provided the topic of conversation between ten members of Chorlton Good Neighbours and ten students from Year 7 and 8 at Chorlton High School, at our annual get together for Chorlton Book Festival on 20 November.

Ms Hockey produced a thought-provoking presentation on the history behind the poppy and Remembrance.

She went on to include many of the new art forms that have been commissioned recently, including Blood Swept Lands, which had been displayed at the Imperial War Museum of the North. Students and folk from CGN were then invited to share their experiences and thoughts about remembrance. They finished the session by writing or drawing a message of hope and remembrance on postcards for peace.

“It was very moving listening to the experiences and memories of the members of Chorlton Good Neighbours.” said Ms Hockey. “and wonderful to have two generations getting on so well.”

BE READY, RESPECTFUL and SAFE.

CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL NEWS

CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL IN THE SPOTLIGHT

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