The Magna Carta School
Autumn Newsletter 2012
HEAD TEACHER’S NEWS Dear Parents and Carers, I write this letter with more than three weeks to go before the end of term and with so many activities still to take place during the weeks leading up to Christmas. You will no doubt be aware, that despite the actions of the exam boards and Ofqual, to raise grade boundaries at the last minute, we still managed to achieve the best exam results in our school’s history. This was due entirely to the hard work of students, staff and parents, who achieved beyond expectations. It was wonderful to welcome back the ‘Class of 2012’ to our recent Presentation Evening and to hear about how they are building on successes from their time at The Magna Carta School. May I take this opportunity to repeat my comments from the evening and thank all parents for the unstinting support that you provide for our school. Our Open Evening on 27th September was a great success
and was followed by tours with prospective parents and students during the school day over the following two weeks. We continue to be popular choice for Year 6 parents and students, but we take nothing for granted, so continue to strive to improve and develop our school at every opportunity. You will see many examples of this within these pages! With best wishes for a relaxing Christmas break.
Tim Smith Head
ANTI BULL YING CONCERT FOR YEAR 7 On Friday 23rd November, the anti-bullying week finished on a high with a rock concert for all of year 7 students. The concert involved two bands from within the school and was headlined by the band ‘According To You’ who had been brought in from outside the school. All bands were outstanding, and the year 7s seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. The concert didn’t just involve music, but mini-biographies of artists who had been bullied at school and came out on the other side, and film clips, including different music videos related to bullying. Continued on page 2
Young Business Partnerships
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MFL News
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Science On Line Access Year 10
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Anti Bullying Week 12/13
Inside this issue:
Business Studies
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Painshill Park Year 7
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Year 11 Information
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Tillingbourne Visit The Woodland Trust
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Shows
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BTEC Performance
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Creative & Media Diploma
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Enrichment Week
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Dance & Drama News
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Work Experience Year 10
Gifted & Talented
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Maths Revision
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House News
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Buying a Christmas Tree
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Christmas Entertainment
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Strictly Come Dancing
Back page
Continued from front page
The concert was compared by two of our year 11s: Bailey Noyes, who is one of the anti-bullying ambassadors for the school, and TJ Costis, who is one of our brightest Music students, and recently became prefect for Thames House. They were very well received, and the year 7s were truly engaged throughout the concert.
Q. How long should a reindeers legs be? A. Just long enough to reach the ground!
YEAR 9 GE OGRAPHERS VISIT TO TILLINGBOURNE Since the beginning of the autumn term our Year 9 geographers have been investigating how a river changes as it flows from the source to the mouth. The Magna Carta School decided to focus this investigation on a local river – The River Tillingbourne, which is a tributary of the River Thames. In class they have been focusing on the three courses of the river and have carried out research into how the river changes as well as the processes that are taking place in each course of the river. To enable the students to extend this learning the geography department took the pupils to the river! They were met by their leaders at Juniper Hall in Dorking and then taken to the upper, middle and lower course of the river. They were able to see how the characteristics of the river changed and what features were formed at all three courses – they got to see a meander and an oxbow lake! The year 9 geographers carried out a river study by measuring the depth, width and speed of the river, most of them were excited at the prospect of getting in the river, others were not! Overall it was a fantastic day which all the geographers (including the teachers) enjoyed and it really helped the students understand what they had been learning about inside the classroom, by seeing the river in its natural setting. Miss N Dinsey Geography Teacher
School Finance We now have a new finance email address for The Magna Carta School. finance@magnacarta.surrey.sch.uk
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If you have any finance queries you can contact us through this address.
For all of your uniform requirements click the link on our website
www.magnacarta.surrey.sch.uk SCHOOL UNIFORM DIRECT
CEIAG PROGRAMME Part of our responsibility to your children is to prepare them for the challenging world they will face when they leave school. Some of them will continue to further education (college, then to university), some will further their education through apprenticeships and other routes to the world of work. Whichever path your child will take, we will endeavour to ensure that we have prepared your child to face the challenges that they will or may encounter. This year, we have invested in careers education programmes which are designed to prepare students for adult life by providing them with the knowledge and skills to enable them to plan and manage their journey though learning, training and into work. Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) is impartial advice we offer all students to help them make appropriate decisions about their future. The “Key Information” is to provide each student with a structured way within the school’s programme of careers education, because they need a realistic expectation of what each option entails and support to help them make decisions that reflect their ability, potential, aspirations and learning preferences. To meet the above, we have invested in the following programmes which are currently delivered during registration:
TREE PLANTING On Saturday November 24th - 09:00am 4:00pm the school held a grand tree planting. The Mayor of Runnymede, Councillor Mrs Gillham, planted a Royal Oak sapling at 10:00am as part of these celebrations.
The Magna Carta School is proud to be a part of this celebration. It may look more like a seed with GPS tracking aerial attached, but yes folks... on the left is the Royal Oak sapling referred to above and the first moments of perhaps hundreds of years for this special tree in it's chosen location. The Woodland Trust have provided us with 420 mixed hedgerow saplings and our aim is to create borders and copse plantings at carefully selected locations around our grounds. Phase one has been completed and phase two (additional hedgerows) will be undertaken in the spring.
All year group-U-Explore (online activity) Year 7 – Steps Year 8 – Launchpad (online activity) Year 9 – Kudos (online activity) Year 9 – “Which Way Now”? Year 10 – Kudos Inspire (online activity) Year 11 – Careerscape (online activity) “IT Your Choice” – Years 10 and 11 Career’s Interview – Year 11
Mr. E. Sanniez TMCS CEIAG Coordinator
If your son/daughter wants to continue using their locker for the coming year 2012/2013, please make the £5 hire fee via our on-line payment scheme or by cash to the school office.
School Lockers
The Magna Carta School would like to thank those who supported the tree planting The Mayor of Runneymede Cllr, Linda Gillham & Daughter Helen Claringbull Sharon Braughtigam Stevie Neville Anna Hope Tim Smith Father of Alex Thompson Claire Grant & Father Samuel Maltby & Mother Natasha Lawson-Hale & Mother Ella Smithers & Mother Ian Henderson Helen Johnston & Family Kevan Grahame (Arts Association) 3 x Sainsbury staff The Brindley family Photos by local press and Alan Bostock 3
BTEC PERFORMANCE EVENING All the students that do BTEC Music in Years 10 and 11 came together to perform in T1 for a BTEC Performance Evening on Thursday 22nd November 2012. We were all very nervous and kind of felt forced to participate because we had to do the concert as part of our coursework, but actually in the end we all really enjoyed it. Everyone performed in a style which they loved and everyone was in their element. It took a long time to set the concert up in T1, especially making sure the sound was good because the sound quality was really important and we had to make sure the stage looked good for the audience and that all the wires were hidden underneath for health and safety. We also needed to make sure all the performers on stage could be seen by the audience. It was a real team effort with everyone
If you are interested in your child using the Yellow Bus service, please contact Mrs Elliott on 01784 454320. Act quickly as places are filling fast.
helping each other and working together. Some of our parents came to watch and they all really enjoyed the concert and Mr Smith and Mrs Jackson came along too which was great. Henry Doran What I thought was best Year 10 about the concert was that there was a bit of everything. Lots of different styles of music from popular to classical to techno and even violin played with the drums. I thought all the performances were really good and it was a good chance for everyone to perform whether they were experienced or new to performance.
ENRICHMENT WEEK Following on from the success of Enrichment Week 2012, we are now looking forward to an even bigger and better Enrichment Week in 2013. From 8th to 12th July 2013 the normal timetable will be collapsed and students will be offered a range of alternative learning experiences outside of the usual curriculum. Students in Year 7 have two choices, either spending the week doing team building and survival skills with the Bushcraft company or spending the week travelling around the world from the comfort of their own school site. For those going “Bush” with the Bushcraft Company, the week starts on the Monday with an in-depth preparation which establishes links between the KS3 Science curriculum and the activities experienced later in the week. On Tuesday morning they will travel down to the campsite where students will then learn how to live and survive in “wild” conditions. A variety of activities will take place each day to encourage increased understanding and to build self confidence. Students will return to school in the afternoon on Friday. Students in Year 7 who choose to remain in school will be participating in a programme called “Around the World in a Week”. Students will be in small groups, visiting a different
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HA HA Q What do Santa’s elves do after school? A Their gnomework! Q What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire? A Frostbite
continent each day learning about the different countries within that continent through a huge variety of activities. Students will make Chinese Dragons in Asia, learn African music and dance, participate in American sports, learn about the different languages of Europe and make boomerangs in Australia plus many more activities. Each day will be divided into three sessions and students will have the chance to experience food from each continent and learn about the cultures and traditions of the areas through practical tasks. Students in Year 8 and 9 have been given a much wider choice of activities. There will be residentials to Paris, New York, Spain, Budapest, Cornwall, Morocco, Calshot, Southampton, Normandy and Snowdome in Milton Keynes as well as a variety of day trips to London and the surrounding areas and some activities in school such as Masterchef, Art Masterclass, Young Apprentice and Rock School. All of these activities are designed to give students the chance to explore the wider world whilst learning, water sports in Spain, Calshot and Southampton, Media and Film making in New York and Morocco, History in Normandy, Skiing and Snowboarding in Milton Keynes or simply taking in the culture both at home and abroad. Trips to museums, galleries, television studios, theatres and workshops being run by professionals in their field are all on offer. If you have not yet signed up for something then get in quick, before you miss out completely! Miss H Claringbull Enrichment week Coordinator
ROCK SCHOOL - THE ALBUM 2012 During Enrichment Week, students on-site at the Rock School had a very productive time. All year groups worked together to compose original songs for performance. TJ Costis (Yr 11) worked very hard to engineer and produce a 12-track MP3 album that captured the creativity of the week. This contained a diverse selection of tracks covering a range of styles, including: Indie-Pop ('Somebody Saved Us'), Stadium Rock ('Blow Wind Blow'), Jazz ('Tetris Tango') and Techno ('Nameless'). Thanks to music mentors Cameron Websdale, Sam Armstrong and Trier Atkinson for supporting and guiding each group. Thanks are also owed to Nigel Cooper for helping to inspire the students. The full album is available for free download from the student share area on the network: P:\Enrichment Weeks\Enrichment Week 2012\Rock School 2012 - The Album Any students interested in participating in the 2013 Rock School during Enrichment Week, should collect a letter from the front office while places are available. Mr Cox
DANCE ENRICHMENT WEEK The ever popular West End Shows week is running again this summer, so make sure you have got your information letter from the office and are ready to pay your deposit!
Dance students will be performing in the Christmas Showcase on Weds 12th December – The show will include a variety of performances by year 9, 10 and 11 dance students as well as the lower school Ballet Club.
Upcoming! Dance trip to Sadlers Wells Theatre, London to see Matthew Bourne’s production of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ in December. Year 10s will be participating in a workshop with the company in February.
Q. What do you call a reindeer wearing ear muffs? A. Anything you want because he can’t hear you!
SCHOOLS WILL ROCK YOU
After our visit to see the West End musical ‘We Will Rock You’ for inspiration, rehearsals for the whole school production are well underway. Don’t forget important weekend rehearsals are on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th February. The show is on Wednesday 27th & Thursday 28th February, and Friday 1st March. Tickets on sale in January!
DRAMA & PERFOMING ARTS SEALAND
On the 6th November GCSE Performing Arts students went to the Arcola Theatre, London to see ‘Sealand’ produced by ex-Magna student Anthony Springall. Anthony also came in for a question and answer session with students the following week, giving Performing Arts students an insight into the world of acting and production. Well done to year 10 Drama students who have been performing to their peers as part of Anti- bullying week, which was bigger and better than ever this year.
Wednesday 27th Thursday 28th February, and Friday 1st March
Tickets on sale in January!
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GIFTED AND TALENTED Another busy term for Gifted and Talented students at The Magna Carta School! Not only did Mr Reynolds lead a very successful group of Year 8s to compete against other schools at The TeenTech Awards, Mr Ghaffar also took students to compete at Sir William Perkins School. These students fought it out in a construction and Science based challenge and gave the other schools of the area a run for their money! Miss Beaumont and Mrs Steer accompanied ten Year 10 students to the famous Bletchley Park, home of the code breakers to celebrate ‘Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History Month.’ Students were given the opportunity to tour around the World War Two base, including looking at their unique post office and working conditions. Most excitingly, we got to crack codes on a real enigma machine used by the code breakers themselves! This trip was to raise awareness of one of the most famous code breakers, computer genius Alan Turing- inventor of the machine ‘The Bombe’ which helped crack the German codes. Alan, although pivotal to the war effort, suffered at the hands of prejudice as he was gay and killed himself in 1954 . It was sad to learn that this incredible, intelligent man was not recognised for his achievements, but discriminated against for his private life.
The Bombe
On the 20th of September, four of our Year 9 and 10 girls participated in the National Mathematical Olympiad for Girls (only 160 participants throughout the UK). This was a three hour long test consisting of five questions at degree level and was part of the selection process from which the European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad Team were chosen. Unfortunately the girls did not make it to the team, but showed perseverance and commitment throughout the whole process. The Maths Department would like to say thank you to Katie Chapman, Emily Bugden (both in Year 10), Cerys Halligan and Carys Allen (both Year 9) for their time and effort to participate in this event. Miss A Venter Maths teacher
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Statue of Alan Turning A group of Year 8 Gifted and Talented students were at The William Perkins School in Chertsey on 22 November 2012 to take part in The Construction Engineering and Design Challenge. The idea was to build a structure spanning 1.5 meters and which could hold a 1.25 kilogram weight without collapsing. The only materials allowed were A4 paper, scissors, sellotape and 125 nuts and bolts. Students worked in mixed teams and they had to employ a whole range of skills including allocating roles, brainstorming, designing and testing structures and even costing their work. Points were awarded based on the cost of the structure and how much weight it could carry. The event was organized by Surrey SATRO who hold various events throughout the year. The students were Andrew Brindley, Charlie Dececco, Alex Green, Annabel Hocking, Julian Humble, Sarah Phillips, Ella Smithers, and Harry Stuart. Well done to all of them for taking part in the challenge. Mr B Ghaffar
Students using the Enigma Machine This term also saw the successful launch of The Magna Carta School’s Gifted and Talented programmes Year 11 mentor scheme. Parents of the students came in to learn of the support and guidance that will be put in place for all Year 11 students on the Gifted and Talented register after the Entrance Exams. The mentor scheme will focus on how to handle stress, work life balance, healthy eating and revision technique in order to help Gifted students cope with the pressure their GCSEs can bring. Parents of Gifted students will receive a letter in January regarding the level of support their child will receive.
GIFTED AND TALENTED
Mr L Reynolds ICT
MAGNA CARTA’S TECH WONDERS On Wednesday 14th November, students from The Magna Carta School attended TeenTech, a one-day event to inspire teenagers with the possibilities of science, engineering and technology, founded by former ‘Tomorrow’s World’ presenter, Maggie Philbin. Our local school did particularly well, picking up one award and leading the way in other categories and competitions. Mr Lyall Reynolds, an ICT teacher at Magna said; “Our students were amazing and did the school proud once again. Not only did we produce the best icon, we were one of only four teams to ‘guess the gas’ in one competition, second fastest in a natural energy quiz and one of our girls was the quickest of all three hundred students attending to refuel an aeroplane. ”Best of all, they were all excited on the minibus back home and really enjoyed the experience and the ideas they had been able to share and learn.” Students spent the day undertaking challenges and talking to industry professionals from companies including the BBC,
Google, JVC, Samsung and Sony who enlightened and wowed them with technologies like touchscreen tables and natural energy ideas using carrots! When asked to design a mobile phone application, Magna’s team created an app to choose your ideal haircut which the judges, including industry experts, decided had the best icon (logo). This was the last of the nationally based events and saw the launch of the TeenTech Awards; aimed at young people in school years 7-11 to design an innovative solution to an everyday problem. The winning team in each of ten categories wins a trip to Buckingham Palace and £1,000 for their school.
September 2012- Students on a Gifted and Talented Trip to the Houses of Parliament. Students toured the Palace of Westminster, House of Commons and House of Lords and once again met and interviewed local MP, Phillip Hammond.
YEAR 7 UPDATE
Wednesday 21st November was the first opportunity for our Year 7 parents and carers to visit the school on mass since induction evening last academic year. Parents and carers met with their children’s year 7 tutors. The interim parents evening was a fantastic opportunity to not only receive feedback on student progress, but to offer feedback on the Year 6 to Year 7 transition. I would like to personally thank those parents that took the opportunity to feedback thoughts and feelings to me and the Year 7 Tutor Team on how the transition has been managed. I very much look forward to acting on the feedback to further improve the experience for future students at The Magna Carta School. It was also pleasing to have so many positive comments and reflections on how students are developing under our care. It is testimony to the commitment of parents, carers, students and staff that Year 7 is currently enjoying the highest ever student attendance (96.5% year to date) in the
last nine years compared to previous years over the same period (to 26/11/12). I would not be surprised if a retrospective over a greater period of time showed this to be the best ever attendance for Year 7 in the history of The Magna Carta School. The correlation between attendance and achievement is well documented. This positive start bodes well for what I am sure will prove to be an immensely successful cohort in all aspects of school life, both in this academic year and the years ahead. In order to maintain and build on our successes into 2013, can I encourage parents and carers to channel any feedback on your child’s progress in the first instance to your child’s tutor this will ensure the swiftest resolution. May I take this opportunity to wish all Year 7 students, their families and carers a joyous Christmas and a Happy New Year. With your continued support we will continue to be successful in supporting your child to Respect, Learn, Aspire and Achieve. David Watkins Head of Year 7 7
ABBEY
Gina Cook Head Girl
A N G A M Magna House compete in Strictly Come Dancing fund raiser
Miss Hope Marathon for Motor Neurone Disease
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HOUSE NEWS
This term Abbey has shown that we are participating in inter-house activities, but with mixed results. Hopefully there will be a massive improvement for the inter-house competition after Christmas! Mr Crossley foolishly agreed to get his lower legs waxed for Abbey’s first charity event and all proceeds will be going to White Lodge. Staff and students found the assembly entertaining as the hairs were ripped off! After Christmas, Abbey house will be doing their annual fundraiser (Abbey Factor) and will be hoping to raise as much money as possible for White Lodge. The fundraiser will be organised by Ms Kostiuk and Ms Cawte. A big thank you to all Abbey students that have participated in schools teams this term and students that have been part of performances that have been put on for the
So far this year Magna students have had their first taste of this year’s inter-house competitions, and as a house we would like to congratulate everyone who represented Magna in inter-house activities. Also huge congratulations to the year 11 girls who brought our team to victory and came first in inter-house netball for the first time in four years. Remember all these inter-house points will help towards our push for the House Cup as well as our drive for an 8th consecutive year of winning sports day; watch out Abbey, Bridge and Thames we’re coming for you! Talking of points, it’s a new year and that means more opportunities to earn Vivos. Remember 100% attendance means Vivos to buy whatever you want from the Vivo shop. This term our house is third in the Vivo league tables with a staggering 90,620 vivos. Keep up the good work guys, every little helps. We’re also pleased to report more good news from the Magna House as Miss Hope, tutor of 8MB, ran a half marathon just before half term in aid of Motor Neurone Disease and raised a grand total of £1,020. Miss Hope definitely deserves our congratulations for such an achievement as well as everyone who sponsored her for helping towards such a worthy cause. Other positive news from Magna House involved us saying goodbye to last year’s year 11 students at the Certificate Presentation Evening. Not only did
local community. Your time and effort is greatly appreciated. Abbey House are very proud of Gina Cook who was chosen as school Head Girl. We all wish her every success in this role. All that is left to say is that I wish you all a merry Christmas and look forward to seeing you in the new year. Mr C Crossley Head of Abbey
this year group achieve the best collective results in the school’s history, Magna students scooped a number of individual awards. In Humanities, Hannah Rodgman won the award and Morgan Frewin picked up the Drama Award. A special mention must go to Zara Manwaring who achieved the best results in the whole year and won the Academic Achievement award. Well done to all! Finally as per usual, fundraising is well underway in Magna House, with many Magna teachers growing moustaches, (and Mr Gallagher for trying) for ‘Movember’ which raises awareness of cancer. Also, during the run up to Christmas, Magna House will be steering away from their traditional panto and will be hosting a game show at lunchtime in the theatre. Make sure you are there as all money raised will be going towards White Lodge, the school’s charity and there’ll be a special guest appearance from Santa...don’t miss it. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Amy Rose & Sacha Dennett Magna House Captains
HOUSE NEWS Welcome to my first newsletter in charge of Bridge House (the best house in the known universe bar none!). We are reaching the end of term already, how the time has flown. Bridge House has experienced many high points already this year. We started the term by inviting our new Year 7 students into the family with their new tutors Miss Jones, Mr Kent and Mr Gibbinson. The new students have settled so well with the help and support our year ten peer supporters and wonderful year eleven prefects. Taking over the role of Head of House has given me my first opportunity to work with peer supporters and prefects. Too often we read tainted and skewed reports in the media of youth crime and
THAMES
Once again, Thames House has maintained its excellent tradition with our students being elected to fulfil extremely prestigious school positions, with Josh Hunt successfully being chosen as Head Boy and Daniel Barrett as overall Sports Captain. I am delighted these two students were chosen as ambassadors for our school and am extremely proud of them. My thanks also go to our own House Captains and Sports Captains, Hannah Taylor, Alex Gomm, Shelby Myers, Ellie Swinglehurst and Yusuf Munaver. These students and our excellent team of Thames prefects work tirelessly to promote both the House and the school. Inter-house results have been very mixed and as always, I am indebted to those of you who participate so willingly on behalf of
BRIDG
anti-social behaviour. We have so many shining examples of young adults in this house with the mindset to prove this view is wrong on every level. This is not because they feel they have to prove themselves to anybody, but because they believe this is right and any other way is just plain wrong. Early in the term I was delighted to be able to appoint Lydia Boyt and Bailey Noyes as House Captains. I was able to congratulate Nicole Finney as she became the school’s Sports Captain. Once again the Heads of House were inundated with applications to become prefects and peer supporters. I lost count of how many students stopped me to request that they be considered for one of these roles. Inter-house started with the girls involved in netball competitions with some great successes and some not so. This became a similar story with the boys football competition, a highlight of which was with the year 11s beating a Magna team made up of the school’s football squad. Most recently Bridge students represented the school in the district cross-country competition and helped the school bring home six cups. the house, but must also add, I am at times, very disappointed to think, there are occasions when we cannot field a full team of competitors for some events, within some year groups. Please support your house whenever you possibly can. By the time you read this, I am confident Thames House will have enjoyed another hugely successful fund-raising event in the form of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, to be held 5th and 6th December. My thanks to Miss Adkins and her team for making this event happen and I am sure we will have witnessed another memorable occasion. Of course, 2013 sees Thames selling Valentine Roses again, so please start thinking ahead and by popular demand, we will once again be running ‘I’m A Teacher, Get me out of Here’ at a later date in the year! Without trying to make you all poor, by asking for even more of your charitable donations, I am also hopeful that we could see a second successful year of ‘The Voice’. One last reminder, our attendance initiative continues after Christmas, so make sure you get into school attending every possible session, for the chance of being rewarded with additional Vivos and prizes. Thames House would like to wish everyone a very happy Christmas and a very successful new year. Mrs Ball. Head of Thames House
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I am really proud to be part of the Bridge team and look forward to our many successes over the coming years. Mr A Davies Head of Bridge House
Thames House compete in Strictly Come Dancing fund raiser
Josh Hunt Head Boy
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CHRISTMAS ENTERTAINMENT On Tuesday 4th December we held our annual Christmas Concert in the Theatre at 7pm. There were a variety of different performances from students in Years 7 through to 11 from instrumental solos (saxophone, guitar, trumpet, piano) to vocal pieces accompanied by CD, guitar or piano to Rock Bands. Mrs Whiting’s Year 7 French Class performed Jingle Bells in French singing ‘Vive le Vent’ and a number of staff performed two numbers (‘Christmas is All Around and Band Aid 20’) as a staff rock band. Most of the show was also performed in a special preview event on Tuesday afternoon which was attended by sixty students from the Hythe School (their choir and Harbour Centre children). Everyone who participated is to be congratulated and my thanks goes to all the students and staff who performed and everyone who came along and supported the event.
Helen Claringbull Head of Music
In the evening of Thursday 6th December our students have been invited to perform in the Christmas Rock Concert at St Paul’s Church which is part of the Christmas Tree Festival. Many of the performances from Tuesday evening’s Christmas Concert will be repeated at this event. Finally, on Tuesday 11th December we will have a Pianists Concert in R1 at 7pm in conjunction with Surrey Arts. Students from TMCS and the feeder schools who learn the piano will be invited to perform music with a Christmas Theme in front of each other and their parents. This will be our ninth piano concert as we now run these termly and they are proving to be increasingly popular and always a huge success.
On Thursday 6th December TMCS students will be performing alongside students from The Hythe, Thorpe Lea and Manorcroft Schools in the opening service of St Paul’s Church Christmas Tree Festival. I have coordinated the schools participation in the event, visiting Thorpe Lea to teach them the music and working with the music coordinators from Manorcroft and the Hythe. Each of the four schools will perform one song on their own as well as two songs sung by all four schools together. We will also be leading the congregational carols (accompanied by TMCS musicians). HA HA Q. How does King Wenceslas like his pizza? A. Deep and crisp and even. Q. What kind of music do elves like best? A. Wrap music
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PAYING FOR SCHOOL TRIPS & SUPPLIES The Magna Carta School offers many enriching off-site trips to support and underpin learning. When your child is offered an off-site activity you will be contacted by letter providing full details of the activity, cost and a consent form to complete and return by a specific deadline. All contributions are voluntary, however, if insufficient payments are received the activity will be cancelled. Should you have any problems making payments then please contact the trip leader who will give further advice. The Magna Carta School has a secure, confidential on-line payment system to make payment for all trips and events. This facility accepts debit card payments only, not credit cards. Please log on to the school web site and follow directions found under the parent tab. Due to changes in banking procedures we are now unable to accept any further cheque payments. If you wish to make a payment by cash it is strongly advised that you call into the school to make this payment yourself, obtaining a receipt at the time. If you are sending a cash payment in with your child then please put this in a sealed envelope, clearly marked with the trip title and student’s name. Mrs J Eveleigh
YOUNG BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS Students from The Magna Carta School were invited to form and get involved in a Local Young Chamber Committee. Working closely with local businesses including Foxhills and Wilkins Kennedy successful applicants would be given the opportunity to meet local businesses and be included in local networking events. These real life opportunities help students to prepare for and be confident with the world beyond school and give active and entrepreneurial students a keen advantage in a highly competitive and currently difficult economic climate.
Representatives from Foxhills, Wilkins Kennedy and the 14-19 partnership, came into school this term to interview students that were keen to apply for this extra-curricular opportunity. The standard of applicant was very high and the students performed extremely well in a very pressurised situation, giving all students their first experience of an application and interview process. The first committee meeting of the newly formed young chamber will take place in January 2013 at Foxhills in Ottershaw. If you are interested to learn more about this opportunity please contact Mrs Knight, Head of Business Studies.
The school was complimented on the students enthusiasm and abilities.
MFL NEWS Hola, Bonjour, Guten Tag from the MFL department! Well, we have had quite an exciting term in the MFL department so far! We kick started the new academic year with European Day of Languages. Year 7 students paid £1 to the school charity to come in to school dressed in the National Dress or colours of a European flag on Wednesday 26th September. They strutted their stuff down the catwalk to the sounds of Jet. Liam Aubrey and Harriet Woodley claimed Best Dressed Boy and Girl. Well done! Mrs Whit-
ing looked fabulous in her matador outfit. Students also entered the EDL Poster Competition. The best poster was judged by Mrs Neville and posters displayed in the canteen. Mrs Neville and her team put on a delicious spread of European foods and students had the opportunity to try out a new language taster lesson. In October we welcomed our fantastic Foreign Language Assistants, Marina from Javea, Spain and Cindy from Paris, France. They continue to be a great help and support in lessons. Miss A Hope MFL Teacher
What a fantastic opportunity for our students to converse with native
HATTON OPERATIC
The Hatton Operatic Society wrote into the school giving high praise for three of our students. Dickson Cossar, Ollie Perry and Jack Farquhar . The boys were all commended on their hard work and great attitude when they helped the society with their production of Annie during October and November of this year. The stage manager said that it was a pleasure having the boys help out and noted that they are a credit to the school. Mr C Walker
SCIENCE YEAR 10 ONLINE ACCESS Further to the Year 10 parent event on Tuesday 20th November, all Year 10 Science students should by now have arranged access to www.pearsonactivelearn.com. This online provision allows students to participate in self-guided study, follow up on class teacher intervention and guidance and is now also the preferred method for setting homework in Science. As a parent/ carer, by asking your child for their username and password to the system you can monitor set homework and also achievement and progression compared to GCSE Science target grade(s). This is a hugely beneficial tool and well worth the £5 investment to cover the Science scheme of work for Year 10 and 11. Thank you for supporting your child’s development. You can contact your child’s Science teachers should you need further information on how you can support and/or monitor your child’s progression from home using the Pearson Active Learn system. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Team Science
Free School Meals We operate a confidential process to claim for support, with one simple form for completion. No supporting paperwork is required to ascertain eligibility. The paperwork needs to be completed once and is held on file until your son/daughter has completed their education at school. Additional siblings
joining the school can be added to the original signed form. The same Government funding provides additional support for students who are entitled to free school meals. Dependent on the students’ needs, there is a range of support available including tutoring a learning mentor access to IT and trip costs. We do not want any student to miss out on their entitlement to free school meals and/or additional support. You can download a form from our website or ask in school. If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Elliott on the school phone number, 01784 454320 or via e-mail selliott@magnacarta.surrey.sch.uk for further assistance. 11
ANTI - BULLYING WEEK In June of 2012, the Year 11 Creative and Media Diploma students started to develop an idea for our Campaign project. That is how ‘Anti-Bullying Week’ was first thought of. Working closely with our teacher, Ms Erasmus, who was guiding us on how to run a campaign, we all decided that bullying was a serious and major thing that happened in not just our lives, but with everyone around us. We all agreed we were tired of seeing kids being put down because of how they look, the way they talk, just for them being themselves. We had to put a stop to it. We started brainstorming how our message would be put across to our target audience, during National Anti-Bullying Week on the 19th-23rd November 2012. We decided the best way to get the message across, was to spread it around the school, holding events that got everyone involved. But we knew we could not do this on our own so we started the process of talking to many groups about our vision and ideas. We spoke to and involved Mr Pedler and the staff from the anti-bullying steering group, the student council and the Parent Forum. By the start of the autumn term we were already over-flowing with ideas, and we
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didn’t know where to start. We invited students from Years 10 & 11 to join us and apply to be an ‘Anti-Bullying Ambassador’ and to receive training from Alex Holmes of the Diana Award and to learn what we expect from our anti-bullying ambassadors. By October we had 30 anti-bullying ambassadors ready to help out around school. We have blue coats and blue shirts with our customized badge and we wear them around the school when we are on duty. We have also drafted a pledge on what we are committed to doing to help other young people against bullies and this pledge is up in all the classrooms. During Anti-Bullying Week a huge variety of events took place involving every staff member and year group. On the 19th we had a wear blue day, where the students got to wear one item of blue and we were delighted to see over 130 staff members all wearing our customized anti-bullying t-shirt! And to see loads of students wearing our ‘Beat Bullying’ wrist bands too. On the cross-curricular front, our Year 7 Art students worked with Ms Cawte and ourselves to create a stunning anti-bullying wall hanging which now adorns a wall at the front of school. It is both colourful and powerful and sends a really positive statement about what our Year 7’s think about bullying! There was also loads of anti-bullying themed work happening in English and Media studies.
ANTI - BULLYING WEEK Our Year 7s also had an assembly on what homophobic language is and there was a screening of the film ‘Homophobia –Our Closeted Education’, made by last year ‘s Diploma students. During tutor periods we were informed and able to discuss the subject of sexual bullying and sexting, bullying based on a students health and appearance, the damages of racist bullying as well as sessions on what is emotional bullying and how bullying can scar someone for life and affect their emotional and mental health. We also had a talk from the police about how cyber bullying is a criminal offence under the Communications Act and our Year 10 GCSE Drama students put on plays for us where they work shopped many bullying scenarios and offered resolutions. The Year 11s also watched the ‘consequences of bullying’ assembly. I felt it really hit home in the assemblies because you could see it on people’s faces that they really didn’t know how bad a situation can feel for someone when they feel they want to end their life. Most people looked quite shocked. We also had a real ‘feel good’ day by announcing a Smile and Compliment Day on the Wednesday. It was great to see everyone smiling and making an effort. We even had a judo instructor come in and give some taster sessions to some of our students on how judo can be used to build self-esteem and confidence. On Friday periods 5 and 6 the Year 7s made their way to the theatre to watch a rock concert organized by ourselves and
Ms Jenny Clarke. Our two school bands performed as support, warming up the crowd, and then we brought in local band, ‘According to You.’ My highlight was definitely the rock concert because it was so much fun and full of energy, we also got the chance to meet the band afterwards which was amazing. I think we did a good job and now I definitely know a lot more about all the hard work which goes into running a campaign. It takes a lot of planning and publicizing. Our school should definitely keep Anti-Bullying Week going by continuing to involve as much of the school as possible. It is definitely a good thing to see so many staff and students involved and committed to driving bullying out of our school and our community for good. By Tori Hickmott Year 11 Creative and Media diploma student Special thanks to the following staff for helping us: Mr Pedler (Deputy head), Ms Erasmus (Media) Ms Clarke (Music), Ms Clark (Drama), Ms Pennell (Media) Ms Lainsbury (LS) and Ms Schofield for all the hard work in helping us.
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BUSINESS STUDIES
Active Learn A new initiative has been brought on board to help students get the best grades at science GCSE. Year 10 students have bought into “Active Learn” a new and exciting way for them to track and review their understanding of what they are being taught in science lessons. There are lots of activities for them to do and check their understanding of the topics being covered. Teachers will also be using it to set homework and track the progress made by their students. This will mean that each student will be able to make an individual review and revision program targeted to the areas that they find most difficult. Some parents will already be aware of this as it was recently presented at a meeting by Mr Watkins and will also mean that parents can see what students are doing as well as how well they are doing. Mrs Sharma Head of Chemistry
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Parents: Are you the parent of one of our next budding entrepreneurs? – Do you work in a great job/business? Would your company/business like to visit the school/contribute to the Business studies department’s network? Could you or someone you know/work with help our Business studies students by coming into school/having the pupils visit the business? Then contact Miss Armstrong at the school via her email address:
The students commitment and strong focus on entrepreneurial skills is remaining to reap rewards in the Business Studies department. Students have had an extremely productive year with one group of students getting to the final of an entrepreneurial event based in Feltham called Entrepreneurial Live 2012, and coming in as runners up amongst many college and high school students. A massive achievement! On Friday 30th November at The Magna Carta school, our Year 10 students will be given the opportunity to network with local business professionals and will be given the marmstrong@magnacarta.surrey.sch.uk opportunity to speak to real life case studies that we have been learning about. This is also a great opportunity for all pupils to gain a wider knowledge of the business recruitment system and to network for their future. Miss M Armstrong
Painshill Park Year 7 Year 7s enjoyed a hugely successful series of teambuilding days from Tuesday 23rd – Friday 24th October at Painshill Park in Cobham, Surrey. All students attended one of these days in their tutor group and faced a series of team building challenges. Working in self named ‘tribes’, The Abbey Messiahs (7AA), Abbey Gangnam (7AB) , The Green Giants (7AC), The Aardvarks (7BA), The Bumble Bees (7BB), The Bridge Bosses (7BC), The Mighty Magnums (7MA), The Red Gladiators (7MB), The Magna Maniacs (7MC), Thamestation (7TA), Gangnam Tribe (7TB) and The Blue Warriors (7TC) were set a series of tasks throughout the day designed to challenge their team working, creative thinking, self-management, participation, independent enquiring and reflective learning skills, all of which make up the personal, learning and thinking skills framework. This was also a fantastic opportunity for tutors to get to know their tutees outside of the school setting. Ms Jones, tutor of 7BA (The Aardvarks) said “As their tutor, it was great to get to know students outside the classroom environment a real opportunity to see very different skills, qualities and talents, as well as to simply have a chat. The den building activity proved a
positive challenge, with some groups showing their past experience with outdoor and Cub Scout activities. Students were engaged in problem solving, team work, creative thinking in real life, hands-on situations. I am looking forward to seeing some of the tutor group take the challenge one step further during their Enrichment Week at the end of the year!” Mr Rose, tutor of 7AA (The Abbey Messiahs) said, “Huge congratulations on a fantastic day out to 7AA, otherwise known as The Abbey Messiahs". It was a hugely entertaining day for all of us and I was very impressed by your maturity and effort levels. I would have been happy to spend a night in the dens you built which is a tribute to your hard work and goes to show how strong a team we have become. Long may it continue.” As Head of Year 7, I was delighted to lead each day and give the students an opportunity to explore their skills through an innovative series of outdoor activities. We have had a positive start to the year with what is a very impressive year group. Mr D Watkins Head of Year 7 HA HA Q What do you call Santa when he stops moving? A Santa Pause!
YEAR 11 STUDENT INFORMATION YEAR BOOK
Each year the school produces a year book for the Year 11s to buy before leaving. This year’s book will once again be an all-colour edition and will hopefully be the best ever. These books are a limited edition and letters were posted out in November giving the opportunity to purchase a copy at the best price we have ever been able to offer of just £12. To reserve your copy please use our online payment system (details below). Books will be allocated on a strictly first ordered basis and will not be available later for reprint.
We would like to include as many of your photos as possible. A few ideas of photos that we are looking to include are: parties, friends, clubs, past times and funny photos to name just a few. Please make sure you send in photos that you would like to have considered for inclusion by the end of January 2013. The year book staff are working on pages now and so the earlier you send your photos in the better It’s easy to submit your photos all chance they have of making this year’s edition. If you need to do is go to the school you would still like to order a year book for 2013 web site then please use the order form below. Mrs G Steer www.magnacarta.surrey.sch.uk under the School life tab you will see a link titled year 11 year book, Please reserve me ............copies of the 2013 simply click on this and log on with Year book at the price of £12each. your name and school password.
Year Book Order Form
PROM
Student Name……………...... ………….. Tutor group …..............
ENTRANCE EXAMS Year 11s - remember that your entrance exam results will be issued on January 21st. You all behaved extremely well during the exams and approached them in the right spirit - hopefully that will be reflected in the results. Have a restful holiday and be prepared to work your socks off in 2013! Remember, if you need any support or guidance in your final few months, don't be afraid to ask any of your teachers, your tutor, your head of house or me!
This year, the prom will be Payment enclosed £ …..… cash or held at the fabulous London Payment made on line £ ..……. Heathrow Renaissance Hotel, on 5th July 2013. This PAYING FOR - YEAR BOOK & PROM venue has been a favourite over the To pay for the year book or prom you will need to log on the school web past couple of site and follow directions found under the parent tab. Due to changes in years as the feedbanking procedures we are now no longer able to accept any further back from excheque payments. If you wish to make a payment by cash it is strongly students and staff advised that you call into the school to make this payment yourself, has always been obtaining a receipt at the time. If you are sending a cash payment in with very positive and your child then please put this in a sealed envelope clearly the evening very marked with ‘ year book’ / ‘ prom’ and the student name. enjoyable. As last Orders made using the online payment system do not need year, all Year 11 a separate order form sent into the school office. Mr McEnroe students earn their ‘Passport to the Prom’ within AN EDIBLE CHRISTMAS! school. This proved to be very popular Created by Stevie Neville, our school Catering as the whole event was seen as a Manager and on display in the canteen is a totally fantastic success. We do not envisage edible Christmas decoration. This masterpiece is the prom ticket exceeding £45. formed of broccoli, mouli radish, cranberries, A non-refundable deposit of £20 is due brussel sprouts and cumquats. WELL DONE by Friday 11th January 2013 with the STEVIE. The canteen staff and Stevie Neville balance to be confirmed at a later date. would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas Mrs Elliott 15 and a Happy New Year
SHOWS On Friday 4th November students at The Magna Carta School entertained over 100 Senior Citizens with a two hour ‘Time Warp Musical’. Via a 'time machine' we travelled back in time to visit songs and dances from musicals across the decades from the 1930s to present day. Over forty students took part in this show including past students who returned to sing and dance, Ashleigh New, James Palmer, Brogan De Voil, Hollie Cook and Rebecca Ellis. Also two members of staff, Helen Clark and Rachel Hughes sang a duet of 'I know him so well' from Chess. Helen also sang 'The Sound of Music' and Rachel sang with James 'Suddenly Seymour' from Little Shop of Horrors and she also sang a duet of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' with Sophie Manning, a Year 11 student. The senior citizens thoroughly enjoyed the show and afterwards were invited into the Carta Cafe where they were served tea and cakes. Teresa Merecki would like to thank all the students involved, including those who worked behind the scenes with sound and lighting, and those students who made the tea and served the senior citizens. Also a special mention goes to Lynda New (School Governor) who managed the sound and to Joe Marter (IT Technician) and Dickson Cossar (student) who managed the lighting, as ever they were a tremendous help. All of the students, past students and staff gave up their own time to rehearse for these shows and their dedication is greatly appreciated. At the end of the show we were all delighted to invite Shona McGarty (Whitney in EastEnders) to the stage to sing 'A Change is Gonna Come'. This gave the audience a preview of her upcoming performance in the BBC Children in Need which was a great success. Thank you Shona. If any parents/carers know of any senior citizens (groups or singular) who would enjoy these shows please get in touch with Teresa Merecki with their name and address details and she will send them the flyers. We hold three senior citizen shows during the school year which are complimentary as well as ‘The Magna Carta's Got Talent Show’ and a ‘Help for Heroes Show ‘with all proceeds going to Headley Court in Epsom.
Mrs Teresa Merecki
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RECOGNITION FOR CREATIVE MEDIA DIPLOMA STUDENTS The Creative & Media Diploma students and their teacher Ms Erasmus were recently invited to the School Improvement Managers’ Conference to showcase their films ‘Living with Ashley’ and ‘Teenage discrimination - Does it exist?’. This conference was specifically for the heads and deputy heads of schools in the whole of Surrey. The aim behind the conferences was to inspire and encourage other schools to consider undertaking similar work which could help to raise standards, promote the enjoyment and engagement of students and tackle key issues. There were a lot of positive comments from delegates about the thought provoking films; “We focused on homophobic bullying with a series of assemblies and workshops with Beat Bullying as a result of Magna Carta’s DVD last year. I will aim to do the same following these films – inspirational”; “The Magna Carta students’ films were amazing”; “We will consider an assembly on combating discrimination”; “We will definitely use both the films – If you would like a copy of these films they were so powerful”. This is an example of our staff and students sharing please contact Finance at effective practice locally to build a strong community of Surrey “Leaders of Learning”. The student films will help schools in Surrey tackle discrimination in an jmeadows@magnacarta.surrey.sch.uk effective way. They will also support schools with Ofsted issues, such as the development of Spiritual, Moral, Social & Cultural awareness and promotion of diversity. Heads and deputy heads of schools who were present had the DVD containing both films to take away free of charge on the day. All other Surrey secondary schools will be getting a copy of the DVD in due course. Senior Consultant Angela Bradshaw who organised the conference had this to say to our students; “Your films are a very valuable resource for teachers to use to raise these important What are the films about? issues. You should be very proud in the knowledge that they will be enjoyed by very many young people in schools across the whole county and beyond. They will definitely influence thinking and behaviour.” ‘Living with Ashley’ is a moving and sensitively WORK EXPERIENCE YEAR 10 apprenticeship, or a job with specific training told observational/fly attached. on the wall documenThe CEIAG - Careers Education, Information On Tuesday 20th November the parents of tary told through the Advice and Guidance - programme was Year 10 students attended a Work Experience explained to parents by Mr Sanniez, who eyes of a 15 year old information evening. This was an opportunity demonstrated how parents can support their for us to discuss with parents the importance brother about what life child at home with thinking, researching and we place on work experience, and how we are is like living with his planning ahead. preparing students for the work sister who has Downs Work Experience is an important part of experience placement on July 8th 2013, and Syndrome. education for employability. It allows students for their working lives after education. ‘Teenage Discrimination – to learn about the world of work in a real life Students in Year 10 are the first set of does it exist?’ Is an working environment. At The Magna Carta students who must stay in education or archival/investigative School we feel that this is an invaluable training until the end of the academic year in opportunity for all students. The process was documentary which which they turn 18. This means that students explained to parents, and how will need to leave The Magna Carta School at starts with the London they could support us in ensuring the end of Year 11, and move either into Riots and looks at the that we are able to provide all Further Education - A Levels etc at a college misrepresentation of students with this opportunity. or 6th form school, or take on an young people in the media. Mr E Lake Assistant Head
STUDENTS NETWORKING FOXHILLS
We arrived at Foxhills and were greeted by Jean Marc Williams, Senior Manager of Foxhills. He led us to a hire room where we began networking with local business people. We were offered drinks and introduced to people, who told us who they were and what their job was and we explained who we were and what the youth chamber aims to achieve. Then we had the opportunity to ask questions and they could challenge our knowledge of the Youth Chamber plan. Once we had exchanged business cards we moved onto someone else and the process repeated. Jean Marc delivered a speech and introduced us, welcoming us to Foxhills properly. When we got the hang of networking we were able to go round and introduce ourselves, enhancing confidence and social skills. They even gave us food canapés as a thank you for attending. We have already established some contacts who would be willing to sponsor some of our activities within the Youth Chamber. It was great fun and in January we will be holding our first Youth Chamber committee meeting at Foxhills. We are very excited to get going and to get our fund raising under way. Charlotte Deccco - Year 8 Stephen Lim-Heath- Year 9 17
PE NEWS What a fantastic start to the Autumn term of 2012/13 for the PE department and the sports teams. Currently acquired in trophy form is the Year 8 Boys Cricket, Year 10 Boys Cricket and thanks to Mr. Rose, Year 9 Boys 7-aside Rugby. The boys football is off to a superb start with Years 9, 10 and 11 unbeaten. The Year 11 boys are also down to the last 16 in the County Cup, having travelled to Carlshalton last week to achieve a win in the second round. Rivalling the boys are the girls netball teams holding an impressive current unbeaten record for Years 7-11! The girls’ Year 7 football looks promising having only lost their first game, they have worked hard as a team to achieve two further wins. It was unfortunate for the girls’ Year 8 football team who also travelled to Carlshalton to be beaten in the fist round of the County Cup, in such a close game. The Year 10 and 11 girls seem to have found their ''football stride'', coming third in the 7-a side at Matthew Arnold. A big congratulations to all the Year 7s who have either attended training and/or represented their school in a team game - a very impressive start! It has been a great term and it is encouraging to see so many students out after school throughout the week.
NATIONAL POETRY DAY Year 8 students were in for a great treat when Coral Rumble (poet) visited lessons on Thursday 4th October to celebrate National Poetry Day. WORD CHAINS … Coral started each session with a word chain activity to help energise the students’ creative skills. Students competed to produce a word chain with as many words as possible in one minute using “book” as the base. The chains were read aloud and it was surprising to hear the variation and thought-patterns emerging from such a simple starting point. Here’s an example – why not give it a try yourself? BOOK – pages – letters – words – voice – mouth – lips – teeth – white – clouds – sky – blue – river – bank – money – shopping – clothes – tops – shorts WHAT CAN YOU HEAR? Coral motivated the students further with an imagination exercise. “Imagine what you could hear if the world was silent, so quiet, no interruptions of any kind, no background noise, no hubbub, just complete silence … imagine hearing a ladybird singing on a leaf, imagine hearing a bird flying through a cloud, imagine hearing a spider spinning its web ... what and here are some can you hear underneath the silence?” Students discussed their ideas and were asked to complete a short poem starting with “Underneath the examples silence I hear …” Underneath the silence I hear … petals falling from a rose and worms wiggling through the soil.
Underneath the silence I hear … The tectonic plates shifting, The moon revolving and The sun burning in the sky.
Our Year 8 students all enjoyed Coral’s visit and left their lessons full of ideas and feeling enthused about the power of words. We all look forward to seeing Coral again next year. Mrs Richardson
MATHS
How often is your child revising outside of normal class time?
WRITING A HAIKU After these activities students were overflowing with ideas and Coral quickly explained the structure for a haiku poem – a poem with 3 lines, the first and last lines should have 5 syllables and the middle line should have 7 syllables. The buzz in the room was amazing as students quickly reached for their pens to begin composing their own haikus. and here are some examples The stars are glowing The full moon is shining bright Guiding you through the night. The moon light shimmers light on the river glimmers we all sleep soundly. Practice, pra ctice, practice
In Maths there is a vast amount of knowledge that students are expected to know and therefore retain for assessment purposes, whether that be end of topic assessments, half– term tests or GCSE exams. In addition to the support and extra revision opportunities here at the school, it is important that they are reviewing their material on a consistent basis at home as well. Without this type of regular revision students often forget the material they have learned and thus do not perform as well as expected on their assessments. As parents you can support your child in reviewing their Maths at home by:
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using the MyMaths Website to consistently review past homework tasks using your child’s exercise book and reviewing topics and questions purchasing revision books, which are available from WH Smith etc. and having your child work through these at home This type of self-study is often the deciding factor in terms of the desired grade and grade achieved!
LEARNING RESOURCE CENTRE Since writing last a lot has happened in the LRC... The LRC continues to be well attended before, during and after school. Students from across the years spend their time making good use of the facilities as well as using the LRC as a place to meet friends. We now have informal soft seating for enjoying a good book or magazine alone or with others. We have four round tables with ergonomic chairs to make studying in small groups more comfortable as well as being useful for discussion and play reading. I have now completed the task of setting out the non-fiction books using the Dewey Decimal System. Also by re-arranging the bookcases we now have much more natural light and so better conditions to study. I’m still working on the fiction collection! But there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel. Most of the books are now set out in alphabetical order by author – this has made it so much easier for
students to find what they are looking for. In the near future I hope to have genre labels as well so finding what you are looking for should be even more straight forward. I have had the pleasure of introducing the LRC to most of the Year 7 English classes. During these lessons I have given the students a brief description of the facilities the LRC can offer. They then had the opportunity to find a book of their choice and to borrow it from the library for use in their English lessons and to read at home. This seems to have been a popular experience and I think the promise of Vivo rewards definitely helped! Over the half term break the LRC was painted so now it looks so much brighter and inviting. Thank you very much to our caretakers for their hard work. My plan is to continue to build on what I have started and continue to work hard to make the LRC an even more popular and inviting place to visit and work.
I have many new ideas for the LRC and look forward to implementing them and telling you about them in the future. Wishing one and all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Jayne Dowsett LRC Co-ordinator.
Q. How would you get four reindeer in a car? A. Two in the front and two in the back. Q. How would you get four polar bears in a car? A. Take the reindeer out first!
CHRISTMAS TREE The school would like to thank MM Trees for donating our school foyer Christmas tree once again this year. MM trees are based in Ottershaw by the ambulance station on the A320 just outside Chertsey. Trees are cut daily and range from Norway Spruce, Nordmann’s, Blue Spruce, Fraser’s and Douglas fir and can be purchased from 3ft right up to a massive 35ft. The farm is open daily from 7.30am to 8pm every day up until the 24th December. Anyone buying a tree and presenting this voucher will help the school raise funds for our school charities.
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THAMES HOUSE - STRICTLY COME DANCING The teachers did The Magna Carta School proud last week as they took to the stage for the Thames House fund raiser ‘Strictly Come Dancing’. Hidden talents were revealed as the teachers battled against each other in front our own Bruno, Len, Darcy and Craig, in an attempt to win the Glitter Ball prize! Many students came to watch the fantastic event which involved all manner of routines, from Bangra dancing to break dancing! Each student donated £1 for entry which raised money for the charity of Siyathuthuka. This charity runs an important feeding program for vulnerable children such as orphans. The children are provided with a cooked meal after school- often the only cooked meal they will receive. This event was hugely successful, highly entertaining and raised £350 for our chosen charity! Miss H Adkins
MOVEMBER AT MAGNA
THE 1215 CLUB
You may have seen pink ribbons and women doing the Race for Life to raise money for breast cancer. This month many of the male staff at The Magna Carta School are taking part in Movember. There’s no ribbons or running – just furry top lips and silly facial hair. Movember aims to raise awareness of, and raise money for, prostate and testicular cancers. These face fuzz cultivators want your money, so please donate at: http://uk.movember.com/ team/939845
Have you ever thought that it would be nice to enter a monthly draw whilst benefiting the school? We are looking to raise funds that can be used to enhance student life here at school and are offering you the opportunity of becoming a member of the 1215 club. As a member you will be entered into a monthly draw, where three prizes will be drawn every month for £25, £50 or even £150. For June (Magna Carta Day) & December (Christmas) there will be one lucky winner of £500: who knows, you could be our lucky winner! All you need to do is complete the form below and return it to student services. Congratulations to our 1215 Club members who have won cash prizes and many thanks to all members for their continued support. If you would like a chance of winning one of these cash prizes in the following months you need to become a 1215 club member, please see the application here. PRIZE
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Term Starts Monday 07.01.13 Year 11 Photos 24.01.13 Year 10 Parent evening 07.02.13 16.30 - 19.30 Year 9 Options evening 13.02.13 18.15 - 20.00 To receive further details and a standing order mandate please complete the details below and return this form to the school office, for the attention of Mrs Eveleigh. Many thanks for your support.
Name......................................................... Address .................................................... PRIZE NAME November 2012 Draw
PRIZE NAME October 2012 Draw
NAME
September 2012 Draw
1st
£150
Mr David Smith
1st
£150
Mr Andrew Harris
1st
£150
Mrs G Steer
2nd
£ 50
Mrs Jane Richardson
2nd
£ 50
Mr David Smith
2nd
£ 50
Mr D Mack
3rd
£ 25
Mr J Jurkiewicz
3rd
£ 25
Mr J Jurkiewicz
3rd
£ 25
Miss A O’Sullivan