Spotlight on South - CHS South Issue 9

SPRING 2023

SPOTLIGHT O N

S O U T H

OFSTED REPORT

'GOOD'

MUSIC

SHOWCASE

SINGING, DRUMMING & LAUGHS!

YOUNG MENTOR

OF THE YEAR 2023

ISSUE 9

WELCOME "CHS South is a welcoming and supportive community.

Pupils are proud of their school."

Ofsted, January 2023 When I attended school, I developed a lifelong love of the Arts. Arts lessons became my passion and provided me with a safe and nurturing community to grow within. My formative experiences in the Arts had a profound effect on me, developing my confidence, my understanding of others and of how to navigate the world around me. These skills and the values fostered in an Arts community have always underpinned my teaching and were in the forefront of my mind when we began the journey to shape CHS South. I wanted us to create a school community where every member had an opportunity to experience the academic stretch and challenge of an excellent education, but from within the safety of a community built on the trust, acceptance, and respect so essential to my initial learning experiences in Arts.

It is with pleasure then, that I take this moment to celebrate our own achievements in the Arts at the start of this issue of Spotlight on South. This term in particular our students and staff have provided some of the most exciting and engaging creative work I have experienced in my career in education. From the diverse talents of the ‘Music Showcase’ to the compelling performances in ‘The Heights’, to the energy of Dance lessons and the enrichment of Art gallery visits, it is wonderful to see our cultural development as a community, and to see it recognised in our SMSC Award and our recent Ofsted Inspection; I couldn’t be more proud. I hope you were able to experience the events described above, but if not, you can find out more in the pages ahead, along with so much more from the Spring Term at CHS South!

David Prophet Headteacher, CHS South

"Pupils benefit from the wide range of clubs that staff provide. They told inspectors that there is something for everyone to try and to enjoy."

Ofsted, January 2023

OFSTED INSPECTION Following CHS South’s first Ofsted inspection in January 2023, the school has been graded as ‘good’ in all areas.

A team of 4 Inspectors visited CHS South on Tuesday 10th and Wednesday 11th January 2023 and judged the Quality of education, Behaviour and attitudes, Personal development, Leadership and management as good; the full report can be found on our website. Manchester City Council Director of Education, Amanda Corcoran has been in touch with me and commented, “This is a much deserved public recognition of the work of everyone associated with CHS South. The impact of your work in the school and in the community is a cause for celebration for us all.”

In the report Inspectors comment that, “CHS South is a welcoming and supportive community. Pupils are proud of their school. Pupils understand the school values of ‘ready, respectful, safe’, and they try hard to follow them in all that they do.”

They also recognise that “Leaders have high expectations with regard to pupils’ behaviour and achievement, including for those pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).”

They go on to observe that, “Pupils have positive attitudes to learning. Lessons are rarely disrupted due to inappropriate behaviour. Pupils said that they feel safe in school. They told inspectors that there is always someone who they can talk to if they have a problem.”

"Pupils said that they feel safe in school. They told inspectors that there is always someone who they can talk to if they have a problem."

Ofsted, January 2023

"Leaders have high expectations with regard to pupils’ behaviour and achievement, including for those pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND)."

Ofsted, January 2023 They also acknowledge that, “Pupils benefit from the wide range of clubs that staff provide. They told inspectors that there is something for everyone to try and to enjoy. Pupils cited school drama productions, sport and music opportunities, the pride group and coding and eco clubs as examples of the rich breadth of activities that are on offer.”

Other observations made in the report include: “Subject leaders are clear about the essential knowledge that pupils need to learn in their subject curriculums.”

“Teachers have strong subject knowledge. This helps them to explain concepts clearly to pupils.”

“Teachers check pupils’ understanding regularly in lessons. This helps them to quickly identify and address any misconceptions that pupils may develop."

“Teachers ensure that pupils with SEND are well supported in class. This helps these pupils to learn more as they move through the school.”

“Pupils in all year groups read regularly. This helps them to become more confident readers. Leaders quickly identify any pupils who find reading difficult.

Skilled staff provide effective support for this group of pupils.”

“Staff enjoy working at the school. Leaders take positive action to support the workload and well-being of staff.”

This is obviously a significant achievement for our community and an important step in establishing CHS South. We are delighted that the efforts and achievements of our children, staff and our families have been recognised and validated through the words of the report. We feel very proud of our community and thank you for your ongoing support.

SPORTING EVENTS Year 9 played their first game of the basketball season with an impressive win over Cedar Mount School. With South eventually winning by a margin of 49 points. Great first game from the boys, showing great teamwork and demonstrating a high level of skill. Hugely well done to Cedar Mount for their work ethic, determination and resilience to play to the end of the game!

Well done to the Year 8 Boys basketball team, currently unbeaten all year in the Excel League and continuing their impressive form with another win against Burnage Academy for Boys and St. Matthews RC High School. CHS South currently sit top of the Manchester Schools Excel Basketball League.

Congratulations to our girls’ football team.

They beat Levenshulme 5-0 to progress into the semi-final of the Manchester Cup. Well done to everyone involved.

Congratulations to our medal winners at South. They took part in the inclusion Manchester Schools PE competitions at Levenshulme High School. What a great event. Well done to everyone involved.

Congratulations to our Year 7 and 8 girls who won bronze medals at the Manchester Schools PE futsal championships. The girls were unbeaten in the tournament, a massive achievement! So proud of you!

Congratulations to our Jnr NBA Year 7 and 8 Basketball teams who have reached the play-offs this year. The Year 8 team beat Chorlton High School and Laurus Cheadle Hulme and lost to Sale Grammar. With our Year 7 team remaining unbeaten with victories over Trinity C of E High School, St Peters RC High School and Chorlton High School. What a fantastic group we have this year. The Orlando Magic and Milwaukee Bucks jerseys look amazing.

Ghyll Head Trip Our students had a wonderful weekend at Ghyll Head in the Lake District for the Annual Kath Fry Challenge. Competing against other Manchester schools, it was an exhilarating weekend of activities that helped test the grit and persistence of all involved. It was a fantastic weekend of activities and CHS South showed true resilience and great cooperation. Day 1 included a night navigation challenge named odds and evens where the students were split into teams and set out on a task to find ten orienteering markers in the dark using nothing but a map, a torch, their navigation skills and teamwork. The students started the weekend off strong finishing first out of all the schools with one half completing the course in under 30 minutes! On Day 2, our Year 10 students braved the weather and conquered Mount Wetherlam in a 6-hour adventurous walk with plenty of scrambling routes. Later that evening, the students took part in an egg drop team challenge. During this challenge they had to design and build a machine that would protect an egg from cracking after being dropped from a 30-metre height with few resources. Once again, South maintained success in this challenge also. “I am so proud of all our students at South for smashing all of their challenges and working together as such a collaborative team, we had such a fun weekend and they showed myself and Mr Molloy what successful teamwork really is.” - Miss Fieldhouse. Day 3 involved multiple teams building and problem-solving challenges including Canoeing, a numbered sequence challenge and a crazy gold challenge. The students collected points for speed, decision making, determination, resilience, and teamwork. “The students represented South in the perfect way, exceeding every challenge presented to them, pushing each other to their limit and celebrating their success, they are a credit to the school, and they did us all very proud.” - Mr Molloy.

Bikeability CHS South have been working alongside Bike Right delivering cycling sessions for our students that encourage them to cycle to school as well as cycling for leisure and fitness.

As well as focusing on the skills required to cycle to and from school, students were encouraged to think about the bigger picture of active and sustainable travel as well as the mindset for increased physical activity.

SOUNDS OF SOUTH

MUSIC SHOWCASE SHOWCASE

Thursday 23rd March saw our FIRST EVER music-specialist showcase at CHS South. Over 60 students participated through steel pans groups, guitar ensembles, soloist and duet singers, pianists, bands, solo guitarists, our very own SouthVoices Jr and Sr group and an incredibly entertaining hosting duo. It was a sold-out success! Thank you to all who supported it and a very big congratulations to all who participated.

The Lion King Play Day - Palace Theatre A group of instrumentalists and singers had the fantastic opportunity of attending a play day with the orchestra and performers of the Lion King in the Palace Theatre. They attended individual workshops and ended with a performance. Well done to all who took part!

The Heights Performance Students have had the opportunity to work with National Theatre Connections to stage Lisa McGee’s ‘The Heights’ – a play about an isolated girl who enjoys making up stories about the streets below her. We witnessed some exceptional acting from the company and they even had chance to perform their play to HOME theatre and National Theatre representatives! Feedback from these representatives after the performance who said ‘the best home connections performance’ they have ever seen. It fully deserved the standing ovation!

Blood Brothers Performance Year 9 Drama electives have been working hard within their lessons to stage their performance of Blood Brothers

by Willy Russell. They had the opportunity to perform scenes from the play to an invited audience in February.

The energy was exceptional and they should all be proud of their scouse accents!

Workshop by The John Godber Company Year 11 Drama students had their performance exam of ‘Bouncers’ this term and had the fantastic opportunity to work with Lamin Touray and Frazer Hammill who are performing in the UK tour of the play by John Godber.

Their hilarious, vulgar and highly physical performances were brought to life through a series of workshops by the professional actors.

Workshop from Kyle Rowe Year 11 Drama students had the opportunity to work with Kyle Rowe, a professional actor who starred as ‘Jimmy’ in The Royal Exchange’s performance of ‘Let The Right One In’. Students watched this play in November and will be writing a review on the acting skills in their May exam.

Kyle performed scenes from the play and gave the us an insight on the journey to becoming an actor.

ACCESS AND ACHIEVEMENT Our Access and Achievement have run a number of interventions this term. This provides support to our students and enhance their learning. Activities included: Lego therapy ThInc Therapeutic Art Motor Skills Handwriting Careers support DLD SALT Talkabout We have also taken some students to Grange school to learn life skills and to visit/care for the animals. We have also participated in Inclusion sporting events where we won medals and certificates.

TEENS & TODDLERS GRADUATION CHS South is proud to announce we have had our first cohort of ‘Teens & Toddlers’ graduates! Nine of our amazing Year 10 students have managed to complete the 16-week programme run by Power2. They have been working alongside their mentees at Chorlton Park Primary School and the feedback couldn’t be more positive. Our students have reported a rise in self-confidence and self-esteem and have week on week shown a gradually increasing dedication to their learning. It was only right that we treated them to a celebratory graduation meal at Nando’s, before heading over to the graduation ceremony at Parrs Wood High School. Out of 40 schools, CHS South was nominated in the Top 7 for the ‘School Partnership of the Year 2023’ award. We are also honoured to announce that one of our students – Millie-Rose Evans – was awarded the ‘Young Mentor of the Year 2023’ award out of over 400 other students from various schools. Millie had such an impact on her mentee that she went from non-verbal and struggling to communicate with other staff or peers to having a great relationship and becoming very talkative with not only Millie but the staff and children in her nursery too. Well done Millie, we’re so proud of you! The influence that all our students have had on their mentees has been phenomenal. We have received nothing but positive feedback from their session leaders. We can’t wait to work alongside Power2 again with our next cohort of students.

DIPO FALOYIN

VISITS CHS SOUTH Year 10 had a fantastic opportunity to work with an author from one of our key texts in Geography. Ms Aldridge arranged for Dipo Faloyin, the author of the amazing book ‘Africa Is Not a Country’ to come and do a presentation and have open discussions with our Year 10 students on the topic of ‘Development’. Students had an amazing experience and were delighted to have this opportunity to speak with such a scholar on the continent of Africa.

This truly helped one of our key texts come to life. Thank you to Ms Aldridge for organising, to our wonderful students for taking part and for Dipo Faloyin for taking the time out to come visit us at CHS South.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY Miss Daswani ran some fantastic cultural enrichment work in Forms time across the school, where students reflected on the history of women’s rights and also what progress still needs to be made. Students and staff also talked about why they are proud to call themselves feminists. Movie nights run through the week and work in assemblies around the issues.

Teachers wore purple to show solidarity.

FRESH START

INTERVENTIONS Over the course of this term we have carried on offering our phonic based reading intervention: Fresh Start. Part of the read/write offer, Fresh Start is a catch-up and intervention programme for 9 to 13-year-olds still learning to read. It offers a simple but powerful solution to accelerate reading progress in just 25 minutes a day. Developed by Ruth Miskin, Fresh Start teaches students at their challenge point, so they learn to read accurately and fluently. It also helps to develop good comprehension, spelling and punctuation skills through targeted activities. Resources are ageappropriate, matched to students' increasing knowledge of phonics, and finely levelled to accelerate progress. We have and continue to have, many students across our year groups graduating through the programme with improved reading skills and a newfound confidence in their literacy abilities.

STUDY WITH LEXIA Lexia is a new English programme we have been using with some Year 11 students to support with comprehension, grammar, and word study in preparation for their GCSEs. It has been an invaluable asset and something the students have enjoyed. It is based on the computer, so students can complete the tasks independently based on their starting level and when needed, there is individualised lessons to deliver when students find a particular area difficult or need additional enhancement.

Miss Coyle would be happy to provide more information for anyone interested in finding out more.

Here’s what some of our students had to say: “It has helped me to improve my English for my GCSE.” – Year 11 student “Lexia is something that you learn good things from.”

– Year 11 student

WORLD BOOK DAY At CHS South, we celebrated ‘World Book Day’ on the 2nd March 2023. It was a fun filled day filled with various activities. Our teachers really got into the spirit of it by dressing up as different characters from books and the Arts department won first place by dressing up as characters from the ‘Wizard of Oz’. Students had the opportunity to take part in a book-themed treasure hunt and were awarded a free book if they got the correct answer. Teachers also were able to read a book-in-a-day to our year 7, 8 and 9. Students also were sent home a £1 book voucher which they will be able to redeem for a free book at major book retailers.

FABULOUS THREE BOOK CHALLENGE Student took part in the CHS South Fantastic Three Book Challenge! Students choose three books from there recommended reading list.

Our book challenge ended in March and our winners got the chance to visit the Central Library in Manchester for a personal tour.

CULTURAL ENRICHMENT Miss Daswani organised a guest speaker from Futureworks Creative Industries to talk to some budding creative students who are considering a career in tech, sound, gaming and visuals. The students asked some fantastic questions about careers and the many different ways people get into their jobs. A really inspiring chat from our speaker. They were also treated to some snacks!

WHITWORTH ART GALLERY TRIP This term saw Team Maths and English take 50 Year 11 students to the wonderful Whitworth Art Gallery for a revision conference. Students worked really hard throughout the day on essential Maths and English topics for their imminent GCSEs. During the day, we took time out from their busy schedule to show the students creative pieces around the gallery, ranging from stunning light installations to beautiful textile pieces, and to enjoy a fantastic lunch provided by the Gallery. Back to the task at hand, students showed amazing focus on their core subjects, with many being entered into a prize draw for their efforts, rewarded with Easter Eggs at the end of the day!

STEM CLUB This term STEM Club have opened the Science labs to budding year 5 Scientists, exploring areas of Biology Chemistry and Physics through weekly after school sessions. Our first week was Biology, where Our Lady’s and Barlow Hall Primary School were given the opportunity to dissect hearts, lungs and livers, as well as look at plant organs under a microscope! Next came Physics, where students created their own unique circuits using different electrical components, made conductive play dough, and explored static electricity using the Van de Graaff generator! Our final week finished with a BANG with Chemistry, with students learning how to safely use a Bunsen burner, exploring the different colours that metals make when reacting with oxygen, and ending with our brave Year 5 volunteers setting methane bubbles alight in their hands! (Don’t worry, safety goggles were provided!) Our year 7&8 STEM ambassadors really did us proud, demonstrating and explaining each session with ease. We can’t wait to welcome lots more Year 5’s to Science Club in the future!

YEAR 11 INTERVENTIONS Year 11 have been working hard this term to boost their GCSE study time. During the mock exam period, students flocked to our library where they took part in breakfast revision sessions. Carefully planned by their teachers, the revision sessions were structured so that students could consolidate their home learning; ask any questions; and ensure they were ready for the mocks they were sitting that day. Plus: a delicious breakfast to fuel their brains! Further to this, students have also been offered after school revision sessions tailored to their areas for development. During this new ‘period 6’ students are able to get an extra hour of revision done with the support of their own class teachers.

By ensuring they are maximising their time in school and working with their teachers, year 11 are setting themselves up for success in their nearing GCSE examinations.

CHS South 451 Mauldeth Road West Manchester M21 7SX www.chssouth.org.uk