South Wirral Digest - December 2016

Issue 8 - December 2016

South Wirral Digest

A BUSY HALF TERM AT SOUTH WIRRAL HIGH SCHOOL

STEM • COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS SHOWS Dance Drama

P4-5

South Wirral In The Community

STEM Special Feature

P6-9

(Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics)

P10-14

A MESSAGE FROM THE HEADTEACHER

IN OUR FINAL SOUTH WIRRAL DIGEST OF THE YEAR

A

s we come to the end of our Autumn Term, I would like to wish you a very peaceful and happy Christmas. Having worked hard all term, the children will be ready for a break and the opportunity to recharge their batteries.

We've had a busy and productive term with lots to tell you about and a few reminders to give too.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,

- Mr Goodwin, Headteacher

KEY DATES

SPRING TERM

Monday 9th January School re-opens for students Thursday 19th January Y10 Drama/Dance trip to Billy Elliot Tuesday 24th January Year 11 Health Day Friday 27th January - Friday 3rd February

Y8 Oaklands

Tuesday 31st January

Y9 Parents Eve & Options Evening

Thursday 2nd February Y11 & 6th Form Photographs Thursday 2nd February Y11 & 6th Form Photographs Tuesday 7th February Year 7 STEM Day Tuesday 7th Feb – Thursday 9th Feb

Yr 13 Business Trip to London

Thursday 9th February 6th Form Fair, Y11 Parents Evening

Revision + PPE results Friday 10th February

Progress Interview Day

Wednesday 15th February Y12/13 Parents Evening + PPE Results Friday 24th February Year 7 STEM Day Wed 15th & Thursday 16th March Year 7 & 8 London Theatre Trip (1) Wed 22nd & Thursday 23rd March Year 7 & 8 London Theatre Trip (2) Wednesday 29th March

Year 8 Parents Evening

WELCOMING OUR NEW DEPUTY HEADTEACHER

I

n January we welcome our new Deputy Head, Mr Cloherty, who joins us having been Deputy Head at Deyes High School in Liverpool.

A Drama specialist, Mr Cloherty will be a fantastic addition to the leadership team at South Wirral High School and we look forward to working with him through 2017 and beyond.

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP TO PARENTMAIL? Parentmail is the quickest and easiest way to receive communications from school - via email and through the free ParentMail app on iOS and Android devices

VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO SIGN UP: WWW.SOUTHWIRRAL.WIRRAL.SCH.UK

SOCIAL MEDIA: /SouthWirralHS

@SouthWirral

Page 2

BRITISH TAEKWONDO CHAMPIONS TWO SOUTH WIRRAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE NOW BRITISH CHAMPIONS AFTER NOVEMBER COMPETITION

E

than George, year 7, started South Wirral High School in September and has had a fantastic couple of months winning gold and silver at the Scottish championships in September and winning a bronze medal at the North Midlands competition in October.

Ethan then built on this success by winning Gold in the Sparring and Silver in the Tag team events at the British Championships in November.

Ethan's dedication to the sport is clear and is the key to his success.

Ethan said:

"

I compete against the best, to beat the best, to become the best"

His achievements at such a young age set a brilliant example of what can be achieved with hard work and dedication.

Ethan's mum said:

"

we are now a

so proud he is British champion"

Ethan joins a fellow South Wirral student, Nathan Saunders, in having had an incredible year.

Nathan started Taekwondo when he was just 3 years old and achieved his black belt by age 7, which was the youngest in the UK at the time.

Nathan has won a trophy in every competition he has

entered this year! Including the British Championships where he became double British Champion in Sparring and Tag Team!

Nathan's achievements were further recognised when he won Merseyside Young Sports Person of the Year last month.

Nathan said:

"

My go

aspirations to the

are to Olympics"

means they are inspiring role models to follow. All the best for the future, we will be cheering you both along.

"My aspirations are to go to the Olympics" - Nathan, Year 11

The boys both train at Wirral and Chester Taekwondo in Bromborough who have a proven record of success being named Sports Club of the Year 2016 at the Wirral Sports Forum Awards.

Both students aspire to represent Team GB at the Olympics in the years to come. To have two students who are British Champions sets a great example for the rest of our students. To have such high aspirations at such a young age

"I compete against the best, to beat the best, to become the best" - Ethan, Year 7 Page 3

DANCE DRAMA A

TWO SOLD-OUT NIGHTS, A LOAD OF STUDENTS... AND ONE STAFF DANCE s Benjamin Franklin may 'T.C.O.P.D.A.D.2K.16' (The Committee have once said, in this world of Planning Dance and Drama 2016). nothing can be said to be The performances came to an certain, except death, taxes and end with an epic 11-minute South Wirral holding it's annual dance from our school dance Dance Drama show in the lead up company 'Vision', but only once to Christmas (it was something the teachers and support staff along those lines, anyway). had been put through their paces with a Cowboy-themed sequence This year is no exception, with incorporating line dancing and a a packed main hall enjoying 2 fair amount of doing the 'grapevine'. hours of comedy, spectacular dances and festive sketches to With two further performances get the audience in the mood exclusively for students on the final for the Christmas season. day of term, the show perfectly

In true Dance Drama fashion, the nights were hosted by students - this year by

rounds off a fantastic year for South Wirral's Performing Arts departments.

DVD & PHOTOS

RELIVE THE SHOW!

There are a limited number of DVDs of the performance on sale. See Gale in the front office at break times to place an order! (ÂŁ5 per copy) You can also see hundreds of photographs from the show on our school Facebook page - www.facebook.com/SouthWirralHS

Page 4

Page 5

SOUTH WIRRAL IN THE COMMUNITY

OUR STUDENTS HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN AN OVERWHELMING RANGE OF COMMUNITY AND CHARITY PROJECTS THIS HALF TERM. READ ON TO LEARN MORE

STUDENTS FUNDRAISE OVER £500 FOR CLAIRE HOUSE CHILDREN'S HOSPICE

WE RECENTLY WELCOMED AVRIL PARR FROM CLAIRE HOUSE, TO SPEAK TO SOME OF OUR STUDENTS ABOUT THE FUNDRAISING THEY HAD BEEN DOING FOR THE CHILDREN'S HOSPICE

D

aniel Luckman and Daniel Collins in year 7 organised a charity football match to raise money for the local charity. The boys were inspired

by YouTuber SpencerFC who had previously organised a charity football match at Wembley. They took it upon themselves to plan their own event to raise money for Claire House, organising the match to take place on at 23rd October 2pm at Plymyard Fields in Eastham. The boys enrolled the help of other students and friends to take part in the match and asked their families to come along and support the match.

mark their fantastic work. The boys said:

" "

We wanted to do it for charity as it would be a good cause”

We got a lot of friends from primary school, South Wirral and my football team to play in the match" We also welcomed back alumni Hannah Dobson, who handed over a cheque for £250 to Claire House in memory of former student Kieran Reeves who tragically passed away last year.

The Sixth Prom Committee (2015) had successfully fundraised the money as part of their efforts to run a Sixth Form Prom at the end of the year. They had carried our cake sales, sold refreshments at events and made Christmas gifts to raise the money. Hannah said:

W

e realised when we got to prom that we had money left over. With the connections we had with Kieran and everyone else will have some sort of connection to Claire House through someone they know we thought it would be a really good use of the money” The Prom Committee made the decision to donate all of the surplus funds to Claire House in memory to Kieran Reeves as a number of students in Sixth Form were close friends and it meant a lot to them.

As a school, we are very proud of the work our students are doing outside of school to help support their local community. This caring attitude of our students demonstrates their commitment to helping others.

Well done Daniel, Daniel, Hannah and the whole of Sixth Form.

Great work!

Avril from Claire House who helped with the fundraising resources said:

"

How amazing that at such a young age the boys are organising their own events and willing to help their local children’s hospice. The difference it is going to make at Claire House is just incredible” The match was a success and the boys managed to raise over £250 for Claire House. Avril awarded Daniel and Daniel special certificates from Claire House to

Page 6

S

ixth Former Lucy Birch has been working with her local church group to encourage fellow students to donate towards 'Operation Christmas Child'. Items such as toy bears and colouring books/pencils, along with toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste etc) were put in shoe boxes to be sent to children in Nigeria & Uganda as a Christmas gift.

As Samaritan's Purse (the charity who run the campaign) say, "a small shoebox can have a big impact. What goes into the box is fun, but what comes out of it is eternal."

HOLLY'S CHARITY HAIRCUT

YEAR 9 STUDENT HOLLY KERSHAW RECENTLY HAD HER LONG HAIR CUT FOR CHARITY, HERE'S HER STORY WHY:

"The reason why I have decided to cut my hair for charity is I am really upset that girls and boys younger than me get told they have cancer every day. I would

like to change that.

The money I raise will go to Claire House Children's Hospice, and my hair will go to Little Princess Trust.

I want girls to have the greatest confidence they can have, and by donating my hair they can make wigs which can hopefully go towards improving their confidence" Well done Holly for showing such compassion and empathy.

CHRISTMAS JUMPER DAY

S

taff and students raised over ÂŁ100 for Claire House on Thursday 15th December by participating in our annual Christmas Jumper Day. Some fantastically cheesy knitwear was on display and congratulations to those of you who persevered with your outfit choice on what was an unseasonably warm day!

Page 7

STAFF AND STUDENTS PAY TRIBUTE ON REMEMBRANCE DAY

A

ll in school held a 2-minute silence on Remembrance Day, to commemorate those lost. On Remembrance Sunday itself, we were privileged to lay wreaths at local churches - St Mary's and St Barnabus. Miss Howells described how at St Mary's, three of our students slowly walked up the steps at the War Memorial, side by side. They stopped in front of the memorial, Sam Howells lay the wreath, then rejoined David Lunt and Henry Anderson to reform their line of three. The three of them all bowed their heads in perfect sync, very respectfully, turned and walked back down the steps.

Page 8

'CAMEO' DAY

O

n 1st December we were joined by the ladies and gentlemen from the 'CAMEO' group from St Mary's Church in Eastham. Standing for 'Come And Meet Each Other', CAMEO gives local residents the chance to meet with like-minded people and take part in various activities.

CAMEO are invited in twice a year for drinks and snacks, and to be entertained by our Dance and Music department's performances in the lead up to the Dance Drama and Carol Concerts.

members of our 'tech team' who also contributed their sound and lighting expertise for the Performing Arts performances.

The day was further supported

by Year 10 and 11 Health & Social students. As part of their studies, students look at care values, respect and dignity and they were able to use the opportunity to be assessed on their organisation of group interaction activities

December's visit had a Christmas theme, with festive music playing throughout the day by

MICROSOFT OFFICE 365 FREE FOR ALL!

G

etting a device for Christmas? Remember - all students are eligible for a free copy of Microsoft Office just for attending South Wirral High School. You can install it on up to five devices, and it works on Windows, Macs, iPhones, and iPads.

To take advantage of this offer just log into your student email account and click on Office 365 at the top left of the screen and click install.

Or you can click on the banner on the front of Moodle for a full step by step guide with login details.Â

Page 9

"I thought it was a great experience.

It was a fun way to learn and be with your friends" - Charlotte

YEAR 8 STEM STUDENTS UNDERTAKE ‘THE FARADAY CHALLENGE’

T

he day was aimed at getting students using STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) skills and knowledge, while encouraging the development of students' problem solving, team working and communication skills.

ON FRIDAY 11TH NOVEMBER, WE WERE JOINED

BY BECKY, OUR CHALLENGE LEADER FROM THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

opportunity for the accountants in each team to purchase components to test out with their devices.

Becky from IET was hugely impressed by our students' work on the day:

36 Year 8 students were grouped into teams of 6 and asked to assign roles "It was a good amongst themselves experience because including managerial, accountancy and we learnt how to code engineering positions. throughout the day. We Teams then had were coding the micro bit to ascertain what in different ways" problems the Land Rover BAR Sailing Team could come across when - Josh out on the ocean, and go on to program a BBC Micro Bit to solve those problems. Miss Finnigan from DT ran a shop - an

"

The teams have shown fantastic engineering skills and teamwork. This morning they were set a very open-ended challenge to do with helping the athletic performance of the Land Rover BAR Team in the Americas Cup. It was up to the students in their teams to work out what

Page 10

problems they could solve, and how they were going to solve them.

The teams have used their coding skills, their design skills and a whole host of STEM skills today and have been really impressive in developing ideas and presenting them to the rest of the group. They have really risen to the challenge today" After much deliberation, and very few points separating all 6 teams, the overall winners of the day were judged to be Team 2 who showed consistency across all aspects of the task winning a trophy for South Wirral High School. They have also been entered into the national competition, where the top three teams across the UK will get an all expenses paid trip to the National Final to compete for a cash prize of up to ÂŁ1,000 for the school.

"This day was an amazing experience. It would inspire many to engineer and invent. We all enjoyed coding a buzzer to tell when the micro bit (the boat) tilted" - Duncan

Good luck Team 2!

"Some of the challenges were stressful but once we all pulled together it felt a lot easier. Near the end of the day when we were almost finished, it felt good to see how much effort everyone had put in" - Autumn

Page 11

YEAR 7’S INSPIRED

BY STEM DAY

ON WEDNESDAY 23RD NOVEMBER, OUR YEAR 7’S TOOK PART IN A STEM DAY, AIMED AT INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS STUDENTS. STUDENTS WERE SPLIT INTO 6 GROUPS AND TOOK PART IN A VARIETY OF RELATED TASKS.

DIGITAL PETS

CATAPULTS

Mrs Wigfall and Miss Cowderoy were working with students on creating catapults. The Year 7’s had to devise the best way to make a catapult that was not only strong enough to knock over a stack of plastic cups but also had the accuracy to land in a container in a separate test.

Those working up in ICT with Miss Bremner, Mr Girow, Mr Jones & Miss McEntee were programming BBC micro:bits to create a ‘Digital Pet’. They combined these Computing skills with Maths and Art to design costumes for their pets. They then put a Business Studies head on to think how best to market their creation for the Christmas market. Quite a lot of different subjects to incorporate in just 2 hours!

Page 12

FLIGHT

In the Main Hall, Miss Finnigan and Mrs Woolham’s group explored flight with paper aeroplanes. Here students looked at the effects of air movement over and under the wings providing an upward lift force, air pushing back against the plane creating a drag force, and the weight of the paper plane – with gravity pulling it down toward Earth.

‘THE HAND’

In Mr Davies’ DT room, he was joined by Mr Tam and Mr Miller to help students create ‘robot hands’ out of cardboard, elastic bands, straws, split pins and string. Their creations then came to life when the different combinations of strings were pulled, with groups being marked on their dexterity.

MICRO:BIT ASTRONAUT

ALUMINIUM BOATS

There was a nautical theme to Mr Hampson & Mr Finlay’s experiments down in Science, exploring buoyancy and weight distribution through the creation of boats. Students were given a piece of aluminium foil, 2 straws and 1 piece of sellotape and asked to model the strongest boat possible. The vessels were then placed in water and pennies added one at a time to see who’s could stay afloat the longest. The winning group won with exactly 100 pennies.

Students working with Mr Fennell and Mr Burton were programming BBC micro:bit devices to measure reaction speeds, and investigate the effect of distraction on reaction speed. The were then able to compare their reaction speeds to those of an astronaut – and each other – by using Excel to plot their speeds and work out their mean result.

Year 7 student Leo Smith took part in the catapult task:

"

In the STEM activity we learnt that catapults in medieval times were used to throw big rocks, fire and many other things at the enemy. In groups we made our own catapult out of elastic bands, sticks and rulers, we had to complete three challenges to see which catapult was best. It was really fun.’

Page 13

Our students then planned their chosen task in groups, with expert opinions from our guests to help them develop their ideas. Later in the afternoon, they presented in ‘Dragons Den’ style. Our winning teams whose ideas will be put forward to a national competition were: Team 1: Grace Cottington, James Fox, Megan Hayes and Shannon Lear Team 3: Aidan Street, Lucas Street, Liam Unsworth-Hayes and Ethan Wellman Team 4: Katie Manning, Jade Muirhead, Harry Hayes, James Fairburn and Ella Doyle

STUDENTS TACKLE BUSINESS CHALLENGES IN ‘DIGITAL DAY’

30 OF OUR YEAR 10 STUDENTS WERE PRIVILEGED TO BE INVOLVED IN DIGITAL DAY 2016 ON NOVEMBER 15TH. DIGITAL DAY IS A NATIONAL INITIATIVE TO RECOGNISE CAREERS IN THE DIGITAL MEDIA INDUSTRY, COMBINED WITH CHALLENGES FOR THE STUDENTS TO COMPLETE DURING THE DAY.

T

he day started out with a presentation from 3 members of a Digital media company called Reckless based in Chester. We were very honoured that Lindsay Reckless, Emily Strickland and Emily Dunlop took time out of their busy working lives to join us for the whole day. The students were shown the huge opportunities that exist in the area and most were shocked at how many disciplines were available. After a very inspiring presentation, they were introduced to 3 challenges and asked to choose 1 to work on. The challenges were to use different digital media to help promote 3 very different concepts: Standard Life Challenge: Saving and earning money is hard and boring! Standard Life need you to

think of a fun way to do it.

Well done to them and to everyone, our guests were very impressed with your ideas and standard of maturity!

“I have learnt that digital media is not just social media – it’s much more. I really liked giving my ideas and opinions and working together with my group, it’s inspired me to think more about what I’d like to do in the future – I would like to get into design or project management.”

Cancer Research: Cancer Research have tasked Digital Day students to think of a new creative digital solution to raise awareness of the obesity crisis amongst young people, help them make smarter choices and live healthier lives

Tata Communications: TATA Communications have challenged Digital Day teams to come up with a digital idea to help tackle some of the key issues for disadvantaged communities including; unemployment, poor health, gender inequality, poverty and poor standards of education.

But there’s a twist, you can only use three pieces of technology, smartphones, laptops and drones!

– Katie

“Design looks like a nice job to do, right now I would like to be an architect or interior designer, so to be able to design using new technologies would be cool” – Lauren

Page 14

ATTENDANCE

T

hank you to all parents who have been supporting school in our drive to further improve attendance. Students’ attendance should not fall below 95%. This is a directive from the Department for Education

Students with attendance below 95% may not be able to go on school trips and visits. (Unless in exceptional circumstances known to their Head of House) Please can parents ensure medical appointments are taken out of school hours or in school holidays where possible.

DFE legislation states family holidays should not be taken during term time. Termtime holidays could lead to prosecution by the welfare authorities. As it states in the authority guidelines ‘parents who remove their children from school in term time may be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice of £60 per parent per child if paid within 21 days, £120 per parent per child if paid between 22 and 28 days’ The Head is only allowed to authorise holidays in term time in

exceptional circumstances. Those circumstances have been agreed

by Governors.

School has a reward system to promote good attendance: • Every fortnight the tutor group within each house with the best attendance is awarded with an attendance trophy which they proudly keep in their possession for two weeks.

Students are required to be in school, in registration or assembly by 8.40am, it is important students get into a routine of arriving in school early ready to start the day as it prepares them for the world of work. Being five minutes late is not acceptable and we must all work together in ensuring good habits are formed now.

Totals to date:

• Every fortnight the House with the best attendance is awarded a trophy.

• Every half term the tutor group within each house with the highest attendance is rewarded with breakfast with their tutor.

• Students with 100% attendance over the year are awarded with an Amazon voucher for the value of £5 • Special House trips organised during the year are specifically planned for students with 100% attendance and excellent attitude to class and home learning.

Well done to Mayer House for the best attendance to date. School is a preparation for adult life. In their future careers our students will need good attendance & punctuality in order to be successful. School is required to provide this information to colleges, universities & employers.

HOME ACCESS PLUS

With HAP+ students are now able to access your school my documents and the StudentDrive from anywhere with internet access.

All you have to do is go onto Moodle and click the blue cloud icon at the top right of the screen, log in with your school credentials and click 'my files.'

If you need any further information, click on the banner at the top of Moodle.

Page 15

SIXTH FORM EXCHANGE STUDENT SUCCESS

I

n early December we said goodbye to Sarah Hickman, an Australian exchange student who has been studying at South Wirral High School for the last 3 months. We have enjoyed having you here. Sarah is returning to Australia and hoping to study Psychology at Deacon University.

Sarah said:

"

I have really enjoyed my 3 months here, I have enjoyed traveling and seeing new

sights. I have met some amazing new people and made some incredible new friends. The school has been very nice and welcoming and I loved experiencing year 12 in an English school. I will also take away many interesting life lessons from both school and outside school. This has been one of the best experiences I've ever had the chance of experiencing."

Good luck Sarah! It's been our pleasure.

Sarah with Head of Sixth Form Mr Neal

YOUNG CHAMBER - IN THEIR WORDS

“

Young Chamber is a way of introducing you to the exciting world of work”

• Whether you want to be a teacher, hairdresser, engineer or care worker. Young Chamber can support you to ensure you are signposted to talk to the right people.

• We will work with South Wirral to ensure you maximise your future education and employment opportunities.

• You will need to be able to demonstrate to a future employer what makes you special, what makes you unique. Young Chamber will draw attention to your skills and attributes and help you apply them to interviews, CVs and work experience opportunities.

READ ALL ABOUT THE SUCCESS FORMER SOUTH WIRRAL STUDENT CAMERON HAD WITH YOUNG CHAMBER ON OUR WEBSITE SOUTHWIRRAL.WIRRAL.SCH.UK

EMPLOYABILITY TRAINING UNIQUE ACCESS TO LOCAL BUSINESSES FOR STUDENTS ENTERPRISE DAYS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS TO MEET LOCAL EMPLOYERS

DID YOU KNOW YOU CAN USE YOUR SIXTH FORM BURSARY TOWARDS A LAPTOP? NOTE: YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CHECKING THAT YOU HAVE MONEY REMAINING IN YOUR BURSARY BEFOREHAND. DEVICES MUST BE FOR SCHOOL WORK AND HAVE A PHYSICAL KEYBOARD (NO TABLETS). STUDENTS WITH ATTENDANCE BELOW 95% ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR THIS DEAL

Page 16

CURRENT UCAS APPLICATIONS

T

he year 13 are well underway with their UCAS applications for the 2017 intake.

Several of our girls have already secured offers for Nursing including Kirsty Mort who has an offer to study children's Nursing at Edge Hill University - a very difficult course to get on.

Sonali Gupta was the first to send her application off to study Sport

and had all 5 offers of a place very quickly after.

As usual, students have picked a variety of courses that suit their interests. Adam Mackay has applied to study Pharmacy, Jessica Hodson Fashion Buying, Adam Nevin Construction Managment and Gabriella Watkins Physiotherapy - An exciting range of careers ahead of them.

Many of our students have decided

to continue with subjects that they enjoy the most. These include Business, English, Geography, History, Psychology and Science.

Liverpool is always a popular destination but this year has seen an increase in students applying to Newcastle, Keele and Leeds.

Good luck to all the year 13's - we are sure your hard work will pay off!

ENGINEERING PLACEMENTS

S

• Ravenair Aviation centre • WDS Commercial Ltd • Willmott Dixon • Colour Commercial

• Marine Turbo • Mersey Car Hospital • The Flanagan Group

These placements are invaluable for students to experience the world of work, and learn skills that are unique to each placement.

outh Wirral Sixth Form students have been undertaking work placements at a wide range of businesses. These include:

Page 17

SIXTH FORM FAIR

YEAR 11 STUDENTS MEET WITH SUBJECT TEACHERS TO DISCUSS OPTIONS

A

t the end of November, all Year 11 students attended our Sixth Form Fair which allowed them to speak to all subject staff about possible courses to study in Sixth Form.

Each student was given a booklet that detailed the courses along with course entry requirements.

We were joined by the NCS (National Citizen Service) and Young Chamber at the fair who could provide excellent extracurricular opportunities for our students whilst they are studying at our Sixth Form, and were able to offer external advice about future career pathways, employability and enrichment.

The following week, all Year 11's met individually with staff to discuss their intended next steps.

Page 18

YEAR 10 TRIP TO OAKLANDS

T

his half term, 20 Year 10 boys enjoyed a fabulous week of adventurous outdoor activities in some extreme weather.

The boys enjoyed rock climbing, gorge walking, coasteering, underground exploration and a river trip in canoes. As if that wasn't enough, students also

underwent a challenging 3-day expedition in the mountains.

If you are interested in a challenging but hugely rewarding experience at Oaklands, there are still places left on February’s Year 8 trip - contact Mr McLoughlin via the school office for more information.

“Never have a group of boys eaten so much in one week” - Mr McLoughlin

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Y

ear 11 and many of year 10 were treated to a performance of this classic novel by Manatco theatre company in the last week of term.

This text is now an important addition to English G.C.S.E. studies and it was great to get

the chance to 'literally 'lift it off the page' and bring it life in the school hall. The three actors gave us a lively multi-role version of the key dramatic moments with the original text used throughout.

A great last minute revision opportunity for our students in year 11 for their January PPEs

and a revisit to the text for our year 10s, and of course packed with festive messages, " Merry Christmas to you all, each and everyone of you".

- Miss Arnold (on behalf of the English Department)

Page 19

UPPER SCHOOL PRESENTATION EVENING

IN NOVEMBER WE CELEBRATED ALL THE HARD WORK OUR UPPER SCHOOL STUDENTS HAVE PUT IN OVER THE LAST 12 MONTHS AND THE HIGH LEVELS OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT THEY ACCOMPLISHED. Gallantry Cross for his bravery

M

r Goodwin kick started the evening praising the individual efforts and talked about the type of young people we want to send out into the world. He emphasised the successes of past and present students such as Anya who has gone on to study Neuro Sciences at the University of Manchester and Adam, who has gone on to study Psychology at the University of Liverpool. Mr Goodwin highlighted.

“

you can come to South Wirral and achieve the very highest levels of excellence.”

With the event taking place the evening before Armistice Day, Mr Goodwin also reflected on past students who had joined the armed forces.

“

We celebrate also the memory of Josh Griffiths who was awarded the Conspicuous

in Afghanistan and the memory of Alex Isaac who tragically died in the same war. We feel passionately that we have a duty to promote citizenship in school…”

Parents, governors, staff and students were then treated to fantastic solo performances from two of our students. Ellen Maddox (Year 11) performed the wellknown hit from Les Misérables, ‘On My Own’. Whilst Eddie McBride (Year 12) performed ‘Dance with My Father’. Both were standout performances of the evening.

Award winners were invited on stage to accept certificates for excellent academic achievement and progress.

We were also lucky enough to be joined by Hollyoaks star, Jared Garfield. Jared has played Nathan Nightingale in Hollyoaks since 2015 and also runs a dance school in London, which he co-founded in

2008. Jared talked about his own experiences in the acting industry and how he overcame challenges to become a successful actor.

Students were inspired by Jared’s speech telling them to “Work hard and dream big” and they can achieve anything.

Mr Goodwin and Jared then presented our highest achieving students with trophies in recognition of their achievements.

The evening continued with a video montage of key events the students were involved in throughout the last few years.

We are immensely proud of the hard work our students put in and they thoroughly deserve the praise and successes that follow.

Mr Goodwin finished the evening by saying:

“

Be inspired by these former students because it shows what is possible with an excellent attitude to learning.“ Thank you to all who attended.

Page 20

TROPHY WINNERS

The Rae O’Malley Trophy for English – Izzy Potts

The School Cup for Progress in Mathematics – Rhys Brown

The Joyce Lyons Cup for Drama – Ellie Lockwood

The School Cup for Achievement in Psychology – Izzy Potts

The Creativity Cup for Art – Josh Clague

The Kate Helen Cup for Creative Writing – Josh Mann

The School Cup for Business Studies – Matthew Sage

The Townrow Cup for Music – Eddie McBride

The Margaret Scott Award for Geography – Abi Stewart

The Wyn Francis Cup for Outstanding Achievement in I.C.T – Tom Duncan The Catering Cup – Nikita Fletcher

The Caroline Cocker Cup for History – Jack Owens

The Georja Busetto Cup for Dance – Georgia Gibson

The School Cup for Modern Languages – French – Luke Percy

School Trophy for Sport – Girls – Georgia Gibson

The School Cup for Modern Languages – German – Luke Percy

The School Award for Digital Photography – Jack Hamer

The Warren Heyes Cup for Progress – Luke Percy

The John Griffiths Cup for Achievement in Design Technology – Kyle Johns Year 10 Trophy for Achievement in Science – Rhiannon Lee

The School Cup for Achievement in Mathematics – James Pimblett The Dr Alan Riding Cup for Progress in Science – Chloe Pleavin

The Churches Together Cup for Religious Education – Abi Stewart The Dr Alan Riding Cup for Outstanding Achievement in Science – Abi Stewart School Trophy for Sport – Boys – Callum Thomas The Governor’s Cup for Outstanding Achievement in School – Zoe Ward The School Award for Health and Social Care – Emma Witter

For more photographs, visit the school website or Facebook pages

Page 21

JANUARY PRE-PUBLIC EXAMINATION TIPS

The January Pre-Public Examinations (PPEs) will begin immediately after the Christmas holidays with the first exam on Monday 9th January. There are exams for Years 10, 11, 12 and 13 including public (real) exams for BTEC Health and Social Care and BTEC Business. The full examination timetable is available on the front page of Moodle.

Results for year 11 PPEs will be issued on year 11 parents evening; 9th February 2017 and for sixth form in their parents evening on Wednesday 15th February 2017. Both evenings will begin with issuing the results from 5:45pm to emulate the experience of examination results day in August and we encourage parents to attend on this evening to support students with this experience.

Meanwhile here are some hints and tips for students for their exams:

GET A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP While the temptation is to stay up half the night 'cramming' in more facts and figures, the evidence suggests this approach is counterproductive. In the context of a two-year course, an extra night's studying can make very little difference to your knowledge.

However, having a mind that is refreshed, alert, and ready to respond to circumstances will obviously be of far greater benefit.

ARRIVE IN PLENTY OF TIME To perform well on the day, you need to be relaxed and to feel in control of the situation. This is difficult to achieve if you have missed breakfast and are stuck on a bus in traffic or standing on a train for 45 minutes as the exam time approaches. You will need about 15 minutes 'quiet time' to mentally rehearse your exam and run through your 'game plan' for the final time.

HAVE YOUR EQUIPMENT READY Each exam has its own requirements. Apart from properly functioning pens, pencils, rulers, etc., you may need a calculator for the Maths or Science exam.

THINK POSITIVE On the day of the exam, remind yourself of the good things (the material you know well, the revision you have completed, all the past exam questions done, the good grades achieved) rather than dwelling on areas of weakness.

Having that self-belief will give you the confidence to trust your judgement within the exam hall and 'hit the target'.

MAINTAIN YOUR FOCUS There can be a lot of tension, drama, and hysteria in the air on the days of an exam. You want to keep the balance between maintaining your focus and interacting normally with your friends and classmates. Try finding a quiet spot far from the madding crowd to 'warm-up' before each exam and 'warm-down' afterwards.

Surround yourself with people who are likely to add to the calm rather than add to the clamour.

BEWARE OF POSTEXAM ANALYSIS The more you participate in the exam post-mortem, the more confused and disheartened you are likely to become. You can't change what has happened, you can only focus on the present and this will need your full attention.

The PPE examination timetable which can be found on the front page of Moodle.

Page 22

IMPORTANCE OF HEALTHY EATING IN SCHOOL Please can I ask parents to support school in encouraging students to make sensible choices in what they eat & drink in school. Recently, Stanley house did a brilliant assembly on this. They showed the students how much sugar each drink contains.

A very high sugar or caffeine content is very unhealthy & affects student behaviour. This is why drinks such as 'Lucozade' and 'Monster' are not allowed in school.

- Mr Goodwin

Page 23

HOLLYWOOD SPECIAL EFFECTS EXPERT RETURNS

I

n late November we were delighted to be joined by exstudent Shaune from Shaune Harrison Academy who spoke to a group of students about his career.

Sunshine, Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow, Stardust, The Mummy, The Fifth Element, The Da Vinci Code and Game of Thrones. Examples of his work can be found on shauneharrisonacademy.com

Shaune left us in 1984 and went on to become a prosthetic makeup artist, and has worked on some of the biggest blockbusters in film history, having worked on Harry Potter’s Lord Voldemort and Mad Eye Moody, Hugo Weaving’s Red Skull from Captain America: The First Avenger as well as numerous characters for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, Danny Boyle’s

Shaune discussed his career, school life and work ethic encouraging students to pursue their dreams and enjoy their work. An hour with Shaune truly wasn't enough to begin to cover what his experiences could offer to students, and we hope to have him back in the near future to speak to more students - or run a trip to see even more of his creations at the academy he runs in Manchester!

Page 24

LIBRARY UPDATE – READING FOR PLEASURE WINNERS ANNOUNCED

L

ast school year our students read 2894 books. Just think – that means Ms Edwards, Mr Keenan and the junior Librarians have to put all of them back on the shelves!

Reading for pleasure aims to get students away from just reading the same old thing, get them out of their comfort zone. As 2 of the challenges ask for books recommended by a friend or a teacher, conversations about good reads should be taking place during registration time. This also means you can talk about books you didn’t like.

Two of the challenges ask students to read non-fiction, (fact) books. For some people, these are the type of books that they prefer during their reading lessons. As ever there is the enduring interest in the Guinness World Records, Horrible Histories, car books, Shakespeare and cookery. However the most popular by far are the football

biographies – with this in mind, Jamie Vardy’s biography is just about to go onto our shelves.

Over 1700 fiction (story) books were read last year. There are over 3500 to choose from. Wimpy Kid, Tom Gates, Harry Potter and Darren Shan books are the most favoured at South Wirral.

Many achieved a number of the challenges, but only Kieran Davies (Wilson 5) completed all 5. He won a book token to help him towards this years reading. Special mentions also for Harry Gorman (Mayer 5), Emily Cook (Mayer 7) and Rosie Eaton (Wilson 5) for completing 4 / 5 challenges.

Students must remember to fill in the short book survey on Moodle after reading every book. Books read at home count towards challenges as well. So I hope we see a longer list of students next year who are reading a variety of genres, biographies and fact books.

THE READING FOR PLEASURE CHALLENGES

YEARS 7-11

Challenge 1 – Any fiction book Challenge 2 – Any fiction book recommended by another student Challenge 3 – Non-fiction book biography/autobiography Challenge 4 – Any nonfiction book Challenge 5 – Any book recommended by a member of staff

SIXTH FORM

Challenge 1 – Pre 1900 fiction Challenge 2 – Post 1900 fiction Challenge 3 – Fiction recommended by another student Challenge 4 – Non-fiction academic text recommended by a member of staff Challenge 5 – Academic journal or magazine Challenge 6 – Quality newspaper

– Mrs Edwards, Librarian

Page 25

GEOGRAPHY FIELDWORK IN THE LAKE DISTRICT

33 YEAR 8/9 AND YEAR 12 GEOGRAPHERS EMBARKED ON A 3-DAY FIELD TRIP TO THE BLENCATHRA FIELD STUDY CENTRE ON 30TH NOVEMBER

T

he year 12s were studying the regeneration of a rural area and glacial till morphology. The year 8s and 9s were to do a micro-climate study and a river study during their visit.

The first afternoon saw the year 12s conduct land use surveys and questionnaires in Keswick whilst the year 9s conducted their micro-climate study whilst climbing Latrigg. The bracing air gave a wintery feeling to proceedings and both groups were glad of their warm winter clothing.

FREE SCHOOL UNIFORM

WIRRALFUSS.CO.UK OFFER FREE UNIFORM TO ANYBODY WHO NEEDS IT, WITHOUT JUDGEMENT OF FAMILY CIRCUMSTANCES Wirral FUSS supply FREE school uniform, PE kit, etc. used by the 22 secondary schools on the

After a hearty chicken curry, the evening saw the younger year group set mammal traps for the next Morning and the year 12s work late into the evening studying their findings.

The next day mammal traps were recovered and a field mouse was revealed, after its liberation a walk to the Glenderaterra Beck followed. The year 8s and 9s studied downstream change along the river and carried their equipment to the site. The snow melt meant that river levels were particularly high and only 1 section could accurately be studied.

Wirral and around 30 of the 100 primary schools Since 2012 Wirral F.U.S.S. has helped nearly 3000 families with their school uniform needs – all free of charge All uniforms are in good or new condition, and their ‘hubs’ have regular opening times when you

The year 12s carried out their fieldwork along a former glacial valley. Plotting the orientation of the Till which allowed them to map the flow of glaciers through the valley some 10,000 years before.

The last day saw the 12s finish their regeneration fieldwork. The 8s and 9s studied the evidence of the Cumbria floods from the year before with a walk along the River Greta in Keswick.

All in all a very enjoyable trip were the students did themselves and the school proud. Students experienced geography in the real world and will undoubtedly be inspired to further their geographic studies.

try items on or swap your current outgrown uniform for larger items. Alternatively you can make an appointment with their volunteer staff Visit www.wirralfuss.co.uk for more information and request items

Page 26

SPOOOOOKY STUDENTS STORIES PUBLISHED C ongratulations to Sophie Van Dieren, Holly Kershaw, Lucy ClyneWilliams, Charlie Williams, Ellie-Rose Kearney, Charlie Giles, Holly Weaver and Sam Howells of Year 8 and 9 who all entered a national writing competition earlier in the year.

They were all selected to be part a published compilation of ‘Spine Chillers’, which will be on display in over libraries all over the country.

GYM FITNESS & FUN

FOOTBALL SKILLS

Well done to everybody who entered!

SATURDAY 10AM - 12PM

SATURDAY 10AM - 12PM

- £7 PER CHILD

- £7 PER CHILD

Fun for all, 4+ years.

Exercise, games, stretching, move to music & parachute games

Fun for all, 5+ years.

Activities, skills & games

HELD AT SOUTH WIRRAL HIGH SCHOOL - STARTS SATURDAY 14TH JANUARY 2017 For more information, contact Wendy at wendywalsh.wirral@yahoo.co.uk or call 07928 817 881

Page 27

EQUALITY AND TOLERANCE I n school we promote the values of equality and tolerance.

For our students this means accepting that people are different, and learning about other cultures & ways of life.

We want our students to be responsible & active citizens, and to prepare them for adult life. This is why we do not accept any sexist, racist or homophobic comments in our school

- Mr Goodwin Year 11 students Lauryn Major, Shaun Loyden, Leon Hennessey and Daniel Symons delivered an

assembly this half term based on 3 key global issues: Child Soldiers, Climate Change and The Syrian refugee crisis.

The idea of the assembly was to highlight to students these important issues as well as to demonstrate how we can help by being active citizens.

Talking about Child Soldiers Leon said:

of danger. They are offered things they may struggle to obtain otherwise such as food and shelter. Many are forced even to kill their own family and people in their own villages. As active citizens, we need to stand up for these child soldiers and UNICEF is an organisation that does this.�

Children are recruited by armies around the globe because they can be easily manipulated and have little sense

Year 8 have their December home learning project based on UNICEF and the work it does to tackle global crises like above.

“

STUDENT TEACHERS VISIT FROM SWEDEN & AUSTRALIA

THIS HALF TERM WE HAVE BEEN E FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO HOST A NUMBER OF STUDENT TEACHERS WORKING WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF CHESTER

M

oa, Ellen, Linda, Ida, Frans, Marcus, Tobias and Johan from Linkoping University observed English lessons throughout the week, and on their final day taught lessons on Swedish mythology and Swedish language to Years 7, 8 and 9 students.

Mr Harrison would like to congratulate the students on a very successful placement,

and all of us at South Wirral are grateful for the opportunity they have given our staff and students to experience their culture.

Two Australian trainee teachers, Chenoa Thorpe and Jordan Verbeek, also joined us for a day in November as part of their placement in the UK. They are currently in the third year of their teaching degrees in Federation University, Ballarat

near Melbourne, but have had the opportunity of taking part in an exchange through Chester University to experience life in schools in Britain. During their day at South Wirral, they observed lessons in MFL, History, Food Technology and Computing, as well as having a guided tour of the school by two Year 10 students and visiting the Sixth Form Fair to see the range of subjects and courses available to students.

Page 28

FEMALE RUGBY REVOLUTION

OLD ANSELMIANS RUGBY CLUB, BASED IN EASTHAM VILLAGE, HAVE TEAMED UP WITH AFYA SPORTS TRAINING TO CREATE A CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE THAT WILL SEE LOCAL YOUNGSTERS BE GIVEN GREAT OPPORTUNITIES TO FLOURISH IN RUGBY.

A

major focus recently has been towards girls rugby, riding on the back of the fantastic Women’s Sevens Rugby at the Rio Olympics and looking towards the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2017 when England will defend their World Champions title, Anselmians Rugby Club are hoping to create and develop a strong environment in which girls rugby can thrive.

Community coaches from AFYA have been working in PE lessons to give years 7-9 a taste of touch rugby and contact rugby. As a school we have produced our first girls contact rugby club which includes students from all 5 year groups; with the U15s so far having represented themselves and the school superbly at the Merseyside Emerging Schools Rugby Festival. U16s also have a strong group of girls with enough numbers to now take on fixtures.

Our relationship with Anselmians RUFC has seen many of our girls attend coaching sessions at the club where they can further develop their love of rugby and hopefully become part of a new local team.

The U15s girls rugby team made SWHS history by being the first ever girls contact rugby team in school. They represented themselves and the school extremely well at the Merseyside Emerging Schools tournament, scoring 2 amazing tries and showing great courage, determination and toughness against some bigger and more experienced teams. They also endured horrendous weather conditions and had big muddy smiles on their faces throughout.

Well done to all of the girls for fully embracing the spirit of rugby.

Page 29

CAROL CONCERT S IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS...

tudents from South Wirral and Foxfields joined together to provide the community of Eastham and Bromborough with a night of Christmas Carols and festive readings during the final week of term with the Music Department's annual Carol Concert.

hymns to a Ukelele-group rendition of 'White Christmas'.

Miss Fidal's 'Signing Choir' joined students from groups such as 'Pitch Perfect' and the Advanced Singers group to make the evening a huge success and get everybody in the mood for the weekend's festivities.

Kicking off at 6.30pm, a packed St. Mary's Church was witness to over an hour's worth of music ranging from traditional

Well done to all students involved for their fantastic performances, behaviour and professionalism throughout a long day and night.

Alan Humphreys @humfmeister

@SouthWirral Really enjoyable night listening to the @SouthWirral choirs and readers at St.Marys Church in Eastham.

10:48 PM - 20 Dec 2016

lesleyd @smyler2

Beautiful carol concert @SouthWirral at St Marys Eastham 7:04 PM - 20 Dec 2016

Page 30

Page 31

Page 32