Knutsford News Autumn term 2022

Welcome to the final edition of Knutsford News for 2022.

It is once again, full of a celebration of all the fantastic enrichment opportunities students have participated in, both throughout Knutsford Academy and Cheshire Studio School. Well done to all of our students who have embraced the opportunities given to them, developing confidence, self-esteem and personal pride! On behalf of the staff and Governors, I wish you all an enjoyable festive break and a very happy new year.

Mr James Whittaker – Headteacher

Refurbished Sixth Form Centre Opens

We were delighted to open our newly refurbished Sixth Form Centre in November to help support the ongoing growth in the Sixth Form and provide state-of-the-art modern facilities for students to learn, study and socialise in. The refurbishment includes a new 80-seat study area with a suite of PCs and additional desks for students who bring their own device to school. In addition, the existing common room was expanded to include raised bench seating, an upgraded kitchen servery and table seating for over 100 students.

Since opening, students have commented, “It is a huge improvement, studying here will be amazing, especially because of the quiet and silent study spaces” and “I really love the new Sixth Form facilities, the space is fresh and inviting and it makes me want to study.”

August Trip to Cambodia

16 incredible students spent 4 weeks in the summer holidays in Cambodia, to support local communities and learn about their culture and history. While they were there, students built a toilet and wooden chicken coop for local families and footpaths for a school, planted banana trees and learnt how to make a water pot for collecting water in the rainy season.

Students also learnt about Cambodia’s very recent history involving the Khmer Rouge and mass genocide, had some well-earned free time visiting temples and gained a PADI open water diving qualification.

35 students have already signed up for the 2024 expedition to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands.

If you’re interested please email Miss Wheatcroft on rwt@knutsfordacademy.org.uk

Enrichment National Debating Competition

A very well done to three students from Year 12 at Knutsford Academy who recently took part in the regional heats of the English-Speaking Union’s ‘Mace Debating Competition’ on November 24th.

Isabel Eaves, Murugi Kuria and Willow Mendonca-Mandizvidza, opposed the motion which stated that This house would ban the use of digital manipulation in advertising, including social media ad content. The students put forward excellent arguments and engaged in energetic rebuttal. Although they did not win their heat, they were a credit to the school and showed a high level of skill with their use of rhetoric and clear and confident delivery.

Maths: Escape Room

Year 7 tackled an escape room created by Miss Wheatcroft. The experience demanded teamwork and problem-solving skills to ‘save the form tutors’. All the children had a go and performed brilliantly, with 7LMA winning with the lowest average time to ‘escape’.

Modern Foreign Languages

The French Department and students hosted a group of French Exchange students in October. We also had some fantastic waiters at Cafe Europe for the Year 6 Open Evening on October 6th.

Art & Design Trip – Liverpool

Year 10 students took a trip to a windy Liverpool! They enjoyed a visit to the Tate Gallery and The World Museum. The students were immaculately behaved and produced some beautiful drawings – from bugs and animal skulls, 3D installations, to the Turner Prize entries and the Great Masters.

Photography & 3D Design Trip – Manchester

Year 12 Photography and 3D Design students have been taking in the sights and sounds of a very chilly Manchester City Centre with their cameras and sketchbooks. They finished their trip with a visit to Salford Quays to see the new Lightwaves Exhibition and to learn cameras skills needed to shoot at night.

UKMT’s Senior Maths Challenge

Our Year 12 Mathematicians took part in the UK Mathematics Trust’s (UKMT) Senior Maths Challenge. Matthew Lopes, Kizzy Nyman, Ollie Bamforth and Nicholas Woo achieved Silver Certificates, and a further nine students were awarded Bronze Certificates. Matthew Lopes was Best in School.

Going for Gold!

Knutsford Academy continues to support 329 students through the ever-popular Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. Students have to commit their time to completing four areas to gain their award, Physical, Skill, Volunteering and the Expedition. These activities last between 3 to 12 months depending on the level of the award they are taking on. As a result of the scheme, local charities benefit from thousands of hours of voluntary help.

The group in the photo on the right completed their practice Gold expedition to Snowdonia in September.

Film Club

It has been fantastic seeing so many students enjoying Film Club! This term, we have been watching films produced by Studio Ghibli, which is a Japanese animation studio. Last week we finished ‘Spirited Away’ directed by Hayao Miyazaki, the only hand-drawn feature film in history to win an Oscar!

We are continuing this theme next term by watching ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ also directed by Hayao Miyazaki – an animated fantasy tale which follows the love story between an 18-year-old girl name Sophie, cursed by a witch into an old woman’s body, and a magician named Howl. Film club is a fun space to enjoy, discuss and review films and is open to all KS3 students every Tuesday lunchtime in S7.

Sport at Knutsford

Netball

An incredible 85 students have been regular attenders at netball this season. There have been 34 fixtures, across the Mid-Cheshire and Macclesfield & District leagues and each one has been played competitively and in fantastic spirit. There have been plenty of wins and the Year 9 team remains unbeaten in all matches! Well done to every player for a fabulous first half of the 2022 / 2023 season.

Cross Country

Students at Knutsford Academy have had success in both the English Schools and the Macclesfield & District Cross Country championships.

Dan Oakes, Jack Pearce, Arthur Fordyce and Seb Colclough took part in round 2 of the English Schools Cross Country on 12th November in Bromsgrove. They ran exceptionally well and although they didn’t qualify for the final in Leeds, they all enjoyed the experience.

A number of students have been selected to represent Macclesfield in the next round of the competition in January: Sam Pearce, Dan Oakes, Zak Kuhillow, Arthur Fordyce, Kate Wolstonholme, Elise Morris, Rosalie Tarne.

Football

Gardening Club

Members of our Gardening Club have been busy planting trees around the grounds at school. These will help support wildlife and add to the appearance of the sites, so thank you to all involved!

The take-up for boys football since September has been amazing with 50+ boys regularly attending training. We have competed in over 40 fixtures this year so far. Our school enters the Vale Royal 7-a-side leagues, allowing a greater number of students of varying abilities to represent school in competitive competitions each week. Every year group enters an 11-a-side squad into the Cheshire Cup and National Cup. These competitions pose a greater challenge, and we have had some great results so far. Notably Year 7, 8 and 10 are through to round four in the National Cup.

The Sixth Form Football Academy are unbeaten so far in the league this season winning 4 out 4, which currently puts them top of the league in the North-West Colleges Sports League.

Thank you

Randeep Bagri, Dave Barber.

The PE department would like to say a huge thank you to all the staff who have given so much of their time to support us in a busy training and fixture schedule, across boys and girls sport; Josh Bate, Paul Atkinson, Henry Tomkinson, Mike Knott, Megan Coleman,

Cheshire Studio School

Employee Readiness Programme

We are delighted to again be working with The Pledge to deliver the Year 13 Employee Readiness Programme. We currently have 24 students signed up for this year’s programme, which helps students learn more about entering the job market either as an employee or apprentice. So far, they’ve had a ‘Meet the Apprentices workshop’ and a ‘CV workshop’. Next, students will receive 1:1 feedback on their CVs from local employers and attend a preparation session for interviews and assessments with Astra Zeneca. Student Neve Purcell commented:

“I felt the CV workshop was vital for me and others who have never written a CV before. It gave me a very clear understanding of what to include and what not to include in order for an employer to consider me for an interview.”

Careers and Employability

Tatton Park Farm

As part of our work experience and employability package in Cheshire Studio School, Year 10 students visited Tatton Park Farm. They spent the day learning about the various careers available in Farming, focusing on the role of a Farm Apprentice. They gained an understanding of the main responsibilities, as well as the personal qualities and skills required.

Industry Presentations

Year 10 Studio students have met employers and industry experts from The Hut Group (THG) and Redrow. These companies gave presentations to students about what it was like working for them, the types of careers available and the skills and qualities needed to be successful.

Exciting opportunities for our Hospitality and Catering students!

Our Studio classes of Hospitality and Catering students have been working hard this year on developing their practical skills and presentation of dishes. To help them further we are really excited to have partnered with the Clayton Hotel at Manchester Airport, through the Hotel and School’s Manchester programme. In January we will be welcoming the Head Chef from the hotel to run masterclasses with both the Year 10 and 11 classes. We will then be spending a day at the hotel to get an insight into all areas of hospitality and catering that the hotel offer. This is a brilliant opportunity for our students to develop their knowledge of the industry and boost their grades. We can’t wait to develop this partnership further throughout the year and give our students lots of valuable experiences!

Progressive Masculinity

Students in Year 10 were lucky enough to work with an organisation called ‘Progressive Masculinity’. They took part in workshops, exploring important topics and empowering them to be more open and communicate their emotions. These students are now embarking on a mentoring program to continue the work of Progressive Masculinity to help support our younger students.

Community

Remembrance Day

We are proud to play our role in the local community and on 13th November staff members and students took part in Knutsford’s Remembrance Day Parade.

Young Leaders in Service

Knutsford Academy has supported this scheme for a number of years now and we’re delighted to see Abigail Coppel and Ellie Stamp gain their Young Leaders in Service awards.

The scheme, by Knutsford Lions in conjunction with Knutsford Town council, rewards students who give 50 or 100 hours of service to the community within a year, with a silver or gold award. Abigail gained a silver award and Ellie received gold, which was presented by Mike Goldman, Knutsford Lions Team Leader.

Knutsford Lions Annual Sixth Form Award

Amelia Key, who completed her A-levels this summer and is now at Nottingham University, was presented with her award in September.

Amelia engaged in many community-wide projects including food donations to Hampers of Hope, fundraising for Children in Need, Frodsham & District Round Table events, as well as volunteering at two local primary schools and Andrew Curphey Theatre Company.

Paul Buttrick, the Knutsford & District Lions Club President, said ‘We are very pleased to present the annual award to Amelia, who has shown true commitment by combining her academic studies with volunteering and helping others in our community’.

Arts

Showcase Performance

Students continued to attend Drama, Dance, Music and Musical Theatre clubs this half term, and those from Year 7, 8 and 9 have been preparing for the showcase performance evening on January 18th. Tickets are £5.

Les Misérables

After a busy 10-week rehearsal period, the cast of Les Misérables took to the stage in the penultimate week of term for five exciting nights of performance. The cast and crew featured students from Years 8 to 13 and marked for many of our talented Year 13 pupils their final production here at the Academy. We are all incredibly proud of them and wish them well in their future careers. We would like to extend our thanks to our treasured volunteers who offer their time and talents so freely and to the families of the pupils for their support of their enrichment endeavours.

Helen Mayne – Head of Performing Arts.