SVF Focus Autumn 2021

SEATON VALLEY VALLEY FEDERATION SEATON SLUICE SLUICE MIDDLE MIDDLE SCHOOL SCHOOL .. WHYTRIG WHYTRIGMIDDLE MIDDLESCHOOL SCHOOL. .ASTLEY ASTLEYCOMMUNITY COMMUNITYHIGH HIGHSCHOOL SCHOOL SUCCESSFUL FUN RUN! PAGE 3

OUR CURRICULUM VISION

REMEMBRANCE PAGE 7

LINC

Our young people will:

• Have the skills and attributes to be successful members of society regardless of their starting point.

At SVF weanaim for our pupils to be: • Experience ICE Curriculum: teaching and learning which is Interesting, Challenging and Engaging.

Literate.

Independent.

Numerate.

Culturally aware.

OUR CURRICULUM INTENT ACHIEVERs

Our young people will be: • All become intellectual, social, creative, physical, resilient, moral and spiritual learners • Contribute to the best of their ability in a broad, balanced, relevant, personalised and progressive curriculum • Have recognition as unique individuals and be celebrated for their differences (within each school) At SVFin we willtalents support our pupils withoftheir: • Invest all their and experience a wide range opportunities • Experience a childhood and adolescence which is happy, fulfilling and full of enquiry: no limits are put upon curiosity, new experiences and Behaviour. knowledge Emotions.

• Value and develop a love of reading and become confident readers, enabling them to access skills, knowledge and concepts within our Achievement. curriculum • Expand their cultural capital through their learning both inside and Mental health. outside of the classroom • Recognise, support and celebrate local and national traditions and events and actively engage with our local community.

BEAM

SMALL ENOUGH TO CARE; SMALL ENOUGH TO CARE; BIG ENOUGH TO DELIVER A POSITIVE IMPACT. BIG ENOUGH TO DELIVER A POSITIVE IMPACT.

Autumn Term 2021

THE TERMLY MAGAZINE OF THE SEATON VALLEY FEDERATION

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AUTUMN 2021

FUNDRAISING, COUNSELLING AND PASTURES NEW

JOHN BARNES WELCOME WELCOME

MACMILLAN COFFEE MORNING Welcome to the autumn edition of SVF Focus.

Following the last 18 months it is great to be back in school with all three schools trying their very best to be as “normal” as possible. However we all know that “normal” these days is very different to the normal of two years ago. Covid still plays a big part in our daily lives and routines. At the Seaton Valley Federation we are doing all we can to mediate against the worst impacts of Covid and give all our young people the best experience of school that we can. Yet saying this we all still have to be careful of what we do and actions that have to be taken. As I write this we are under enhanced measures suggested by the local authority and I ask that you support us with this.

I wish you all the best for the rest of this term and in the run up to Christmas. We know life is a challenge for many people at the moment but here at the SVF we will do all we can to support your child to have the best time that they can when they are in school with us.

John Barnes

Executive Headteacher Seaton Valley Federation WWW.SVF.ORG.UK

SVF COUNSELLING SERVICE

A huge thank you to all federation pupils, parents, carers and staff for supporting the various ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’ events on Friday 24 September. A phenomenal amount was raised across all three schools: Seaton Sluice Middle School £738.37, Whytrig Middle School £668.39, Astley Community High School £487.50. A grand total of £1894.36 was donated to Macmillan Cancer Support.

HELLO YELLOW SSMS and WMS pupils supported the Young Minds charity ‘Hello Yellow’ initiative on Friday 8 October. Young Minds is the UK’s leading charity fighting for children and young people’s mental health. Their aim: to see a world where no young person feels alone with their mental health, and all young people get the mental health support they need, when they need it, no matter what. Pupils were invited to wear something yellow on the day and make a small voluntary donation to Young Minds. A total of £260.09 was raised.

This issue of SVF Focus covers a wide selection of the activities that have taken place across the federation, highlighting how much we value an educational experience beyond the classroom. It is fantastic to see so many of our young people accessing so many different activities and I encourage as many of our pupils as possible to give them a try. All of us must have our hearts warmed by the amount of charity fundraising our young people do; it is also great to hear that residentials are back in place.

Many of you will know that Whytrig Middle School has been inspected

by Ofsted this term. I am pleased to say that Whytrig has been graded GOOD by Ofsted and awarded OUTSTANDING for its behaviour and attitudes. Everyone in the federation is delighted for the pupils, parents and staff of Whytrig. They have worked really hard to get this grade and should be proud of what they have achieved. I most certainly am very proud of them. This means that all three of our schools are, in the eyes of Ofsted, considered to be GOOD. We however know that this is always the case and in fact our schools are better than that.

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TERM DATES SEATON VALLEY FEDERATION Christmas holiday School finishes on Friday 17 December 2021 and reopens on Wednesday 5 January 2022.

Monday 3 January is a bank holiday and Tuesday 4 January is a teacher training day.

Spring half-term holiday SEATON VALLEY School finishes onFEDERATION Friday 18 February and reopens on Monday 28 February 2022.

Easter holiday School finishes on Thursday 7 April and reopens on Monday 25 April 2022. Friday 8 April is a teacher training day.

Early May bank holiday School is closed on Monday 2 May 2022.

Summer half-term holiday School finishes on Friday 27 May and reopens on Monday 6 June 2022.

Summer holiday School finishes on Friday 22 July 2022.

CHILDREN IN NEED Seaton Valley Federation schools held non-uniform day on Friday 19 November in support of BBC Children in Need ‘Dress Down Friday’. Pupils attended school in their favourite clothes and made a suggested £1 donation. A fantastic amount was raised, SSMS £273.75, WMS 215.38, ACHS £395.25. A special mention to Rosie F at SSMS who used her own money to do a bake sale in school and raised £50.45 (included in the SSMS total).

We now have a school counselling service available across the federation. Jill Bittle is the School Counsellor for ACHS and is available Monday - Wednesday. Leigh Culyer is the School Counsellor for SSMS/WMS, working at SSMS on Wednesdays and WMS on Thursdays. Counselling can be effective to help with many types of mental health issues, including anxiety, depression and stress. It is a way of exploring problems and looking at how we manage them.

Please feel free to get in touch for more information. We look forward to meeting you! jill.bittle@svf.org.uk leigh.culyer@svf.org.uk

SOUTH KOREA FOR MISS JENSEN WMS and ACHS Science Technician Miss Jensen left recently to explore and experience a new culture in South Korea. Whilst we are sad to say goodbye to Miss Jensen, we are equally excited for her new adventure into education in a different country. Miss Jensen will be teaching English as a foreign language in South Korea through the English Programme in Korea. EPIK is a government sponsored program that runs in South Korea with the aim to provide public schools with native English speakers to enhance their English education.

Miss Jensen hopes to spend her first year immersing herself in South Korean culture, learning some of the language and trying all the delicious foods they have to offer! She also hopes to engage her new students in exciting English lessons and activities.

When asked about her longer term goals Miss Jensen said: “There are native English teaching programs all over the world. So I hope to spend a year or two in South Korea and then who knows! I would like to teach in Europe too, maybe France or Spain. I think this is a great way to gain teaching (and life) experience and hopefully it will lead into a career in English foreign language teaching or speech and language therapy.”

Read more about Miss Jensen’s plans at: Pastures New Mrs Roberts

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SEATON SLUICE MIDDLE SCHOOL OUR LATEST NEWS HEAD OF SCHOOL MRS MCSPARRON

It has been fantastic for all of our pupils to get back to a much more ‘normal’ school this year, with pupils able to move freely around the school building and go to specialist teaching rooms for their lessons. As well as everyday lessons, pupils have enjoyed a wide range of extra-curricular activities.

These include a residential visit for Y5; charity fundraising; litter picking at Seaton Sluice Beach; a Halloween disco; to name but a few. We were also proud to launch ‘Seaton Sluice News’, a school newspaper created by the children.

This was enjoyed by all and included school news, book recommendations and even an interview with Mr Barnes!

We have also welcomed the Fire Service into school; the firemen worked with all year groups. KS2 children learned about the functions of the fire engine and were lucky enough to explore inside too! KS3 were taught about the dangers of fire, hoax calls and anti-social behaviour. All pupils enjoyed the input immensely.

The term has certainly been a busy one but very enjoyable!

Mrs McSparron

NATIONAL POETRY DAY

Making beds was the hardest task of the visit! This was followed by a trip round an obstacle course whilst blindfolded; scrambling to the very top of the climbing wall; and being hoisted into the air for the 3G swing. The week ended with a race across the bouldering wall, which was very competitive with a member of SSMS staff taking the winner’s crown. Behaviour was impeccable, pupils pushed themselves as far as they could and everyone had a great time. Staff couldn’t be prouder of all 67 pupils and can’t wait for next year!

Miss Curry

HELPING HANDS Help is at hand from the Year 7 Helping Hands team!

Twelve Year 7 pupils have recently been interviewed, recruited and trained to support other pupils through any difficulties they may encounter.

The Helping Hands team trained in listening, questioning and problem solving talking and social skills as well as confidentiality. There will be two or three Helping Hands on the yard every day that you can talk to; alternatively you can fill out a form - these are in every classroom and pop the form in the Helping Hands box located just outside the library.

Soon after that, a Helping Hand will find you to have a chat. If the problem keeps occurring then you can ask to talk to a Helping Hand again. We are very proud of the new Helping Hands and we know they will be a huge support to our pupils.

Layla, Year 8 wrote a fantastic piece of poetry for National Poetry Day in October. Having studied the poetry of Wilfred Owen in class, she adopted the persona of the victim of the gas attack in ‘Dulce et Decorum’ and wrote the incident from his perspective. High-level stuff that really impressed us.

Poetry by Layla Dreaded news to all the men, Wrapped up, us, in hell, Bomb shells and guns pace my mind, Death and loss pass by.

Whilst you sit, comfort in your own home, Boys sit curled up in mud, Your sons you cheer on as the leave, Little do you know they’ll never return.

A boy I was, Sweet, soft and innocent, Singing to the trees like birds, Yet I’ve seen more than the world knows, Torn apart piece by piece, Limping on my bleeding feet, Gas! GAS! Quick boys!

There frozen I stood like bricks.

My energy faded into the green sea, Spluttering, choking, drowning, The gas mask was ought to be on my blood splattered face, Yet this story wasn’t even written by me.

BEACH CLEAN

Miss Staines

SPONSORED RUN FUN Last half term, the annual Sponsored Fun Run made a long awaited and very successful return. Staff, pupils and even some very energetic parents raced through the dunes to Blyth bandstand and back to raise money for the pupils at Seaton Sluice Middle School. Although Mr Porter put up a good fight, Adam B (year 6) took first place. Mr Porter came an impressive second, closely followed by Archie S and Luke A (both year 5 pupils). A massive well done to these boys.

Miss Curry

BUSY KS2 SCIENTISTS Our KS2 pupils have been inquisitive and sensible scientists this term.

RESIDENTIAL VISITS RETURN AT SSMS This term saw the exciting return of residential visits at Seaton Sluice Middle School. Over the week, 67 pupils from Year 5 (and 5 tired staff) attended Dukeshouse Wood in Hexham, where everyone challenged themselves right from the start.

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SSMS have hooked up with Seaton Sluice Surf Company to do some work on the importance of looking after our environment and in particular our oceans.

Year 6 went along to the beach and met Ali from ‘Surfers against Sewage’. They had a talk about the problems with plastics and then they took part in a beach clean, collecting lots of rubbish, including microplastics. The school is now really keen to achieve ‘plastic-free school’; status. A big thanks to Miss Curry and all the staff involved as well as Seaton Sluice Surf Company for organising this.

Mrs McSparron

In the Year 5 topic of Materials and their Properties, pupils have planned and carried out a range of investigations. So far, they have explored thermal and electrical conductivity, magnetism, filtration, hardness and dissolving. Practicals in the lab have been exciting and they can’t wait for more! As part of the Living Things and their Habitats topic, Year 6 pupils have been extracting DNA from fruit, classifying living things and studying microorganisms. They have been making composters, looking at yeast growth in bread and then considering variables that could affect the growth of mould. They also enjoyed eating their bread after baking it!

Read more about our busy scientists at: News: SSMS

Mrs Middlemiss

TIMES TABLES ROCK STARS SSMS students have been getting to grips with Times Tables Rock Stars by completing a speed tables grid on paper and then logging on to the TTRS site to choose their rockstar name and avatar. They can play other students from their class, select anyone in school, challenge their teachers in the rock slam or even play anyone else in the world. TTRS aims to promote times table recall by increasing students speed and accuracy. Little and often is the key - a short amount of time spent on the site most days will really benefit students and increase their confidence in maths. Please can parents support this with their children over the next few months.

During the week 8-11 November 90% of the school took part in the Times Tables Rock Stars competition.

Every correct answer was awarded one point and students could play for up to one hour per day. The total points for each class was divided by the numbers of students in the class to give an average and make the competition fair. Well done to all who took part - a fantastic effort!

Mr Porter

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RESIDENTIALS ARE BACK

JOHN BARNES WELCOME OUR LATEST NEWS WHYTRIG MIDDLE SCHOOL HEAD OF SCHOOL MR SOUTER

ACCELERATED READER Our Accelerated Reader programme, set up at WMS last year (thanks, Mrs Linney!), is once again in full swing! Hopefully we are inspiring and enthusing the pupils with a lifelong love of reading and setting them up with an invaluable life skill.

It has been such a pleasure to see our school resemble more of the old ‘normal’ this term, in comparison to the last two academic years during the pandemic.

We have worked hard to ensure our pupils have access to the best curriculum offer possible and that they are again able to have some of the opportunities that we were unable to offer due to restrictions; it really has been great to see visitors working in school again, in person with our children rather than virtually! Over the course of the term children have again been participating in extra-curricular sessions, sports fixtures, school trips and residentials and more, which we have always valued so greatly as a school to support a child’s personal development. Ofsted inspected in the second half of the term and they recognised all the progress made since the last inspection in June 2018, grading the school as GOOD overall.

We are particularly proud to have been awarded OUTSTANDING for behaviour and attitudes, reflecting the hard work of staff and children, who will no doubt really enjoy their well-deserved holiday at the end of the term!

Mr Souter

Phase Two of our action plan is in progress so things are stepping up a gear! Every child now has a reading log where they can record their efforts at home and school. (These logs can be entered into a prize draw if pupils are particularly proud of them by the end of the year.) We are also making even better use of our online library, myON, sharing topic-based or themed texts with the class and so getting a bit of cross-curricular quizzing under our belts too…These quizzes extend to vocabulary as well and so it seems likely that we will develop a wealth (a profusion?... perhaps even an abundance?) of confident, self-assured, sanguine pupils with extraordinary, aweinspiring, monumental lexicons…

And why not quiz?? The classes are battling it out to be crowned this term’s quizzing champions - with the incentive of an hour in the IT suite and a non-uniform pass driving them ever onwards! They are really getting stuck in, reading carefully and aiming to get 100% scores on every book. We are really determined to send them on from WMS as confident, capable readers who are enjoying what they are learning - and so far, they are not letting us down!

60 Year 5 children enjoyed an exciting, adventurous and adrenaline (sugar?) fuelled three days on the outskirts of Hexham at Dukeshouse Wood. How thrilling to be able to get back to these trips - and our youngest pupils took full advantage of everything on offer.

From the first challenge - making their own beds! - to the last, we were full throttle all the way! Flinging themselves into space on the Leap of Faith and the zipwire; working in a team to get around the forest blindfolded; building shelters from wood and moss; firing arrows through the rain...they certainly developed plenty of skills to help them become more resilient, independent and courageous children. Adam said, “At first I was afraid of heights but after I went on the Leap of faith and zipwire, I’m not! I never thought I’d get to the top of the tower or be able to get down from the zipwire.

I’m so proud of myself!”

Mrs McClellan

STEM LINKS WITH UGANDA WMS has been involved with Science Technology Engineering Mathematics learning since 2018 when Alan Edmiston visited as a science ambassador to support the development of enquiry-based learning in science. Alan’s STEM sessions focus on mathematics and science, involving fun ‘hands on’ experiments that get the pupils thinking outside of the box.

Mrs McClellan

Gillian Bell, Senior Education and Engagement Officer, to the UK Parliament delivered assemblies to help pupils understand how parliament works, how decisions are made and how you can have your say. Lots of healthy debate followed the assemblies at a workshop with some Year 7 and 8 pupils. A variety of ideas were debated and voted on including: Abuse Against Animals, Anti Detention Bill, Homophobic Bullying Bill and a Fossil Fuel Bill.

Mrs Roberts

Year 5 pupils had a fantastic transition visit to Seaton Delaval Hall in September; playing team games, investigating the basement, exploring the park and relaxing on the grass to have lunch!

The children thoroughly enjoyed getting to know each other and the long walk there and back! Thank you to the volunteers who supported the visit on the day.

Mrs Chadwick

FANTASTIC FOOTBALL Year 6 have had a fantastic start to their football season - a credit to their school and families, with some brilliant displays and lots of goals!

In the Northumberland School FA County Cup, WMS were at home to Christchurch PS. The visitors were inexperienced, so the game was one sided and WMS still came out on top playing 5v9 and with the visitors’ teacher going in goal! We travel to Tweedmouth MS in Round 2. A local derby victory at Seaton Sluice, saw the boys play some excellent football again. Goals were shared around with Charlie R getting a hat-trick and Oliver W poaching two. Our first trip to the Central Venue 7-a-side league at NCEA saw us play Ponteland CPS and a 4-0 win, with Ryley F scoring a hat-trick.

A tough game against Burnside PS saw us lose 3-1 and then finish with a great 2-1 victory against table topping Bishops PS, with Oliver W netting in the last few seconds. The Y6 Boys visited the Newcastle University Coach Lane pitches to take part in the Northumberland Schools FA County Finals, where we expected the opposition to be very strong - we were right! A tight 0-0 against Ovingham MS and a 3-2 loss against Gosforth East MS had the boys heads down! However, a great 4-0 victory over Hadrian Park PS and a hard fought 0-0, including a disallowed goal, against Valley Gardens put us in with a shout of victory. A great 2-1 win against Bothal PS, meant that going into the final round WMS were top, but had played all their games. Gosforth East won their last game to win the competition, meaning that WMS finished a brilliant 2nd place in the County. The boys then won 6-0 at Meadowdale MS with all players taking their turn in defence. Lewis L came out of goal and scored the final goal of the game. Excellent football this term!

Mr Robinson

PUBLIC SCULPTURE TRIP

SEATON DELAVAL HALL VISIT

In September we were delighted to take Year 8 on their annual Public Sculpture Art Trip. Pupils enjoyed seeing many of the North East’s public art sculptures including Northumberlandia, the statue of Emily Wilding Davison by Ray Lonsdale at Carlisle Park in Morpeth, the Couple by Sean Henry at Newbiggin By The Sea and The Angel Of The North by Antony Gormley in Gateshead. We have drawn on the experience in our lessons in school.

HEALTHY DEBATES

WMS pupils learned about the UK Parliament during a special assembly on Tuesday 12 October.

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As part of this, Alan has been involved in a project with Metro Kids Africa and Stanley, Black and Decker to develop teacher training and the life chances of children in Uganda. Alan’s high quality STEM sessions at WMS have been filmed to be used for teacher training in Uganda. In November, Alan brought bicarbonate soda rockets and sheep’s hearts in to get Year 5 pupils collaborating hands-on.

The pupils loved these messy activities and worked on their own reviews to send to the students of Uganda. We have thoroughly enjoyed being part of this project, not only the cross culture links with schools in Uganda, but also participating in exciting and challenging STEM sessions. The next step in this project is to set up some links between WMS and the schools in Uganda so we can continue to learn and grow from each other. We are honoured to have been selected to be part of this exciting project and look forward to developing the links with Uganda even further.

Mrs Campbell

Mrs Lawton

SCIENCE CLUB It seemed topical for our scientists to experiment with sneezing, testing out the hypothesis: Using a tissue when you

sneeze helps to stop germs spreading.

Our results showed that this is true. Chris Whitty was right! We tested a supplementary hypothesis: Tall people spread more germs than short people. Interestingly, further testing led us to conclude that short people are the superspreaders! If a verticallychallenged individual in your vicinity has a cold, our science clubbers have some sound advice…Run!

Mrs McClellan

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JOHN BARNES ASTLEY COMMUNITY WELCOME HIGH SCHOOL OUR LATEST NEWS HEAD OF SCHOOL MR SCOTT

REMEMBRANCE Students attended Remembrance Day assemblies on Thursday 11 November to commemorate all who have fought in conflict. Students learned about different aspects of WW2 including D-Day, the Women’s Land Army, Bletchley Park and the work of Mathematicians during the war in Allied code breaking, the story of the poppy, and Ms Da Prato told the story of North Shields boy, Thomas Brown.

It has been great to get the school back to some form of normality over the last few months and I feel that this is reflected in the articles in this edition of the SVF Focus.

After a challenging period of time, it has been brilliant to see our students taking part in all manner of activities and performing at the highest level again. We have been able to welcome back visitors and guest speakers and also offer experiences which the students have really missed throughout the pandemic. I would like to reiterate my thanks to everyone connected with Astley for your fantastic support and encouragement, which we all feel has allowed the students, staff and school to get back to full speed quickly, despite the difficult couple of years we have all experienced. I am really looking forward to seeing where our journey takes us next! Best wishes to you all.

Mr Scott UK PARLIAMENT

In 2000, Hollywood made the blockbuster U-571 with an all star cast, critics gave it good reviews and it performed well at the box office. It was an exciting movie which tells the story of the Americans capturing a German U-boat during WW2, on board which they seize an enigma code machine…Finally the Allies decipher the secret code messages from the Germans and thwart their efforts! Great story…. but it’s not true!

There is a very real story behind this blockbusting movie. A story much much closer to home and one that makes the folk of North Shields extremely proud. This is the story of Thomas Brown, a 15 year old lad from the ‘Ridges’ / Meadowell in North Shields. Read the full story at: Remembrance 2021

Ms Da Prato

COUNTY CRICKET SELECTION ACHS is proud to announce that Elliot A has been selected to play cricket at county level.

ACHS students found out about the UK Parliament during assemblies on Tuesday 12 October.

Gillian Bell, Senior Education and Engagement Officer, to the UK Parliament delivered assemblies to all year groups to help students understand how parliament works, how decisions are made and how you can have your say. Gillian covered the following areas: democracy including the rule of law, protest, having your say, the right to vote and elections; how the UK Parliament works looking at the House of Commons and the House of Lords; the voting system and other ways to have your say such as petitions to parliament.

Mrs Roberts

Elliot is a batsman for Bates Cottages Cricket Club where his coach was contacted by the county squad to watch him batting. Elliot was then invited to trials in October which resulted in him being offered a place on the Northumberland County Cricket U16 squad. Elliot trains once a week with his local club and once a week with the Northumberland squad.

He will get to travel and play matches elsewhere in the country with Northumberland County Cricket. Elliot said: “I enjoy playing cricket, it’s fun and if other students are interested they should join a cricket club, they’ll enjoy it.”

Mr Carbutt

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GREEN FLAG ACHS was awarded the Eco-Schools Green Flag Award from Keep Britain Tidy during the Summer Term 2021 and received its Green Flag this term!

Work began to achieve Green Flag status early in 2020 with the formation of Eco-Club by Mrs Keay. An initial focus on reusing items in craft projects saw club members learn how to crochet and make crocheted roses that were sold to raise funds for the club - Eco-Crochet Club was formed! Colourful artwork was produced by students in a competition to design the school eco-code and litter picks around school took place.

Future plans include a Year 9 crisp packet project which involves collecting foil lined crisp packets, cutting them open, washing and drying them and then sending them to a charity that turns them into blankets for the homeless. There are also plans to make the school site prettier with planters, and run a clothes drive.

Mrs Keay

CODE COOPERATIVE The Altitude Foundation came to Astley to deliver the second Code Cooperative with eager computer coders from Astley. The purpose of the session was to design algorithms and apply them to real world situations and students had fun while doing it.

Student Jai said: “Code Cooperative is a fun area where friends can enjoy programming micro-bits and websites.”

The Altitude Foundation wishes to create a world where all young people with a passion for technology are enabled to smash barriers in order to achieve a successful career.

Mr Drought

THUNDER SCHOLARSHIP ACHS student Joe M has won a place on the Newcastle Thunder rugby league Scholarship.

Joe attended trials during October at Kingston Park training ground after being scouted while playing for Whitley Bay Barbarians. The trials involved around 70 rugby league players from across the North East and Cumbria resulting in 49 being selected for the club’s Scholarship (Under 16 Academy) 2021-22 programme.

Joe trains with Newcastle Thunder every Tuesday and Thursday evening and continues to train with WBB once a week. Joe also plays rugby union for North Shields where he trains three times a week. He will start playing matches for Thunder in May 2022. Joe loves the excitement and adrenaline he gets from playing rugby and said: “I love both league and union equally, other students should go for it and try rugby at a local club or at school if they are interested in playing.”

Mr Carbutt

LIFE SKILLS As part of the Year 10 Life Skills curriculum, the group has been doing a first aid course.

This has been led by Mr Jones, who has extensive experience in this field.

The group has been learning how to assess and support casualties when they’re not breathing, how to do CPR and how to use a defibrillator. They have also learned how to manage and treat casualties with open wounds.

Mrs Lennon The Year 11 Life Skills group has been learning crafting, bike maintenance and gardening skills this term.

Students are revamping the allotment at the back of the fitness room, they also hope to update other areas around the school and to make bird boxes and planters for the outdoor areas. Thank you to the staff for donating gardening tools.

Mr Scott

MUSIC MARK We are proud to announce that ACHS and WMS are once again Music Mark Schools for the 2021-2022 academic year. The schools were nominated by Music Partnership North.

Mrs Tarpey

PLAYER OF THE YEAR NOMINATION ACHS student Junior has received a nomination for North East Rugby League, Under 14 Player of the Year.

Junior plays rugby league for Whitley Bay Barbarians and rugby union for North Shields, training four times a week. He has played rugby for five years and looks forward to continuing. Junior who attended an awards ceremony in September at Kingston Park Stadium said of his nomination: “I train with lots of other brilliant players who deserved nominations but I am proud to be nominated.” Although Junior didn’t receive Player of the Year, everyone at ACHS is extremely proud - well done Junior!

Mr Carbutt

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NEWCASTLE GALLERIES TRIP

SIXTH FORM FOCUS SENIOR STUDENTS Our Senior Students play a vital role in the life of our Sixth Form and the school in general.

They work closely with staff and students in the lower school to help improve the school.

They are role models and ambassadors for our school, and their positions carry a high level of prestige. Students apply for the positions of Senior Students whilst in Year 12, and go through a rigorous interview and selection process.

Mr Ironside

FURTHER MATHS ACHS sixth form students are studying Further Maths AS Level through a course offered by Newcastle University.

The year 12 and 13 students started the course at the end of September with weekly visits to the university where they work with students from other schools.

They continue studying the subject independently and attend the Astley Further Maths Support Hub where the students work collaboratively on a range of Further Maths problem solving tasks.

Mackensie said: “I’m really pleased to have the opportunity to study the AS Level Further Maths course at Newcastle University. The course has been both challenging and enjoyable so far.”

Mrs Ward

ACCESS INTO MEDICAL SCHOOL Prospective medics at ACHS Sixth Form had the opportunity to meet Robbie Bain, a fourth year medical student at Newcastle University in September.

Robbie is the co-founder of the AIMS (Access Into Medical School) Guide; a group of medical students, committed to making the process of getting into medicine fair for all. Robbie gave a talk on the different specialisms and career routes available to medical students once they qualify. He busted some of the myths about the types of people who apply for medicine. He shared advice on how the university application process works and gave tips on what to expect when preparing for an interview.

For more information on the work of the AIMS Guide visit their website: AIMS GUIDE

Mr Drought

YEAR 11 ASPIRATIONS We have been working hard recently in supporting Year 11 students to shape their aspirations, and to think about life beyond Year 11! Mr Ironside and Mr Scott, along with other members of staff, have been hosting weekly breakfast sessions in Cafe 6 to discuss students’ plans and to support them in making the most appropriate choices for next year.

GYMNASTICS FOR LEAH Gymnastics is a passion for ACHS sixth form student Leah H who competed at the British Championships in Stoke on Trent in October. Leah’s team, North East Gymnastics, were seventh in the national Junior TeamGym and Tumbling disciplines, a fantastic achievement. The British Championships are held once a year and only the best ten national teams compete. The teams must qualify for their place in the competition, this year the qualifiers were held via online video.

Leah has been doing gymnastics since she was 7 years old, trains three times a week with North East Gymnastics in Newburn; competing four to five times per year Leah is now progressing from junior to senior competitions.

Mrs Roberts

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ACHS A level Art and Design students braved public transport and intermittent drizzle to embark on a journey of cultural and artistic exploration through Newcastle City Centre in October.

Starting at the Great North Museum, students were encouraged to explore natural history and geological exhibits, which proved valuable observational sources for those students studying organic forms. Artefacts from world cultures, both historical, and contemporary, enabled students studying costume, fashion and 3D design to deepen their understanding of how culture and craft inform one another. Displays of local archaeological finds dating back to prehistory were considered as sources of inspiration for those students whose art practice draws upon their own cultural history.

The students visited the Laing Art Gallery; Newcastle’s principle gallery of historical and contemporary fine art. Students were exposed to a range of works and artistic styles from some of the great masters of art including, John Martin, John Keats and William Holman Hunt, alongside more contemporary pieces by artists such as Glen Brown and Elisabeth Rowe.

Inside the gallery spaces of The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art students had the opportunity to experience immersive installation pieces; in stark contrast to the modes of display encountered in the morning, students were encouraged to walk within, rearrange, and even lie down upon, artworks on display. Questions were raised in this environment, regarding the nature and role of art, artist and viewer; traditional conceptions were challenged and horizons broadened.

SCHOOL WELCOMES BRITISHVOLT In November, ACHS Sixth Form students were delighted to be the first to welcome staff from the new Britishvolt Gigaplant currently under construction in Cambois. Leon Denis and Jochen Schmerbitz from procurement at Britishvolt, delivered an assembly on the values that underpin the foundation and future direction of Britishvolt. A workshop followed the assembly covering the circles of Control, Influence and Concern in people’s lives and gave guidance on how to prioritise them.

PARTNERS PROGRAMME Zoe and Vicky from Newcastle University Outreach Team came to speak with ACHS Sixth Form in October about the benefits of studying at university.

They explained the advantages of studying for a degree and how this enhances one’s employability prospects. They talked about the application process and student finance.

Year 13 students received a tutorial on the UCAS application process and how to write an effective personal statement. Student’s were also shown how to apply for Newcastle University’s PARTNERS programme which gives students a contextual offer of up to three grades lower than the typical offer from the University. For more information on the Newcastle University’s PARTNERS programme and to check eligibility visit: Newcastle University Partners Programme

Mr Drought

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD A group of Year 11 and 12 students met Hannah from the University of Oxford in September.

Hannah is the Outreach Officer from St Anne’s College, the link college with the North East region. Hannah spoke about the variety of courses that can be studied at Oxford and their entry requirements. She dispelled some of the myths about the type of people who study at Oxford and she gave some reassurances about student finance. Students were also told about the many benefits of the Aim for Oxford programme, which is designed specifically to support students from the North East in their application to the University of Oxford.

Mr Drought

FITNESS SESSIONS

Louise from Durham University Access and Engagement Team supported our session. ACHS is joining the Durham University Schools Membership Scheme to support students in considering Russell Group universities. We have had some brilliant conversations with the students and we are looking forward to working with them even more later in the year.

The Britishvolt ambition is to create some of the planet’s most responsibly manufactured battery cells, primarily to power electric vehicles. The new Gigaplant located in Cambois will create up to 3,000 jobs in the North East of England and even more in the supply chain. The Seaton Valley Federation hopes to build strong links with Britishvolt and looks forward to welcoming the team back soon.

This year we have been running fitness sessions before school for Years 12 and 13: Tuesdays Week 1: 7:50 - 8:30 everyone welcome, Fridays Week 2: 7:50 - 8:30 girls only. So far our sessions have covered a variety of different fitness styles, heavy barbell squats, strength and conditioning circuits as well as High Intensity Interval Training. In the future we will be looking to incorporate bench press, pull ups and accessory work. Each session works so that any ability can join in and, hopefully, feel the burn!

Mr Ironside and Mr Scott

Mr Drought

Miss Tyler