WEAVERS UPDATE May 2013
Dear Parents / Carers
Jo Blake Cave, a Resident Storyteller at the Royal and Derngate Theatre, visited Weavers this term and regaled KS3 students with some exciting stories.
Exam season is upon us again and I have to say that the students who are taking external exams, primarily Years 10, 11, 12 and 13 have never been better prepared. I’ve been particularly impressed by the group of 42 students from Year 11 and the Sixth Form who have enjoyed (some would say endured!) a 5 day intensive preparation programme for the iGCSE English qualification, thanks to Mrs Satyanadhan.
Jo’s first story for Year 9 students was an old Welsh myth from a medieval collection called The Mabinogian. The story features Branwen, daughter of Llyr who marries the King of Ireland, and her subsequent rescue by her mighty giant of a brother, Bran. The tale included some bloodthirsty moments!
Lord Nash has just signed off our Academy order and the conversion process will now proceed formally. From 1 September we will be ‘The Weavers Academy’. New signage, branding and uniform will be in place and a set of the new uniform (blazer, tie, jumper, sports/rugby shirt) has been ordered for all current students. The costs of this are covered within the academy conversion budget – there is no cost to parents. Those of you who have sons and daughters moving up from Year 6 to Weavers this September will order uniform in the usual way and information on this is coming out shortly.
The second story was performed to Year 8 students and was an Albanian wonder tale called The Girl who became a Boy. This was about a girl who dresses as a soldier to join the army, who defeats monsters and wins a magical talking horse, and ends up undergoing a surprising transformation!
Please read about our fantastic Under 14 Basketball Team – runners up in the National Cup – real quality, real stars, we’re all really proud of them.
Library News
For Year 7 the third was a Russian story called The Soldier who Captured Death, about a soldier who defeats all the devils of hell, gains great riches and even captures death himself, only to find himself punished by deathlessness - they say he is still wandering the earth now! When questioned at the end of the performance Jo was asked how she remembered all the words to the stories. Jo’s response was that she imagines the story as a film playing in her head and she describes what she sees. Jo also said that she uses all her senses to help her to create more imaginative descriptions to make the story more interesting. The audiences were enthralled by her storytelling and comments from the students were very positive and complimentary with many requests for a return visit.
Have a great Whitsun break, we are hoping for warmth and sunshine. Jon Davis
The Creative Arts Stars - Great 4 Year 7 - Natasha Fyffe, Esha Kumari, Chloe Pegg, Anand Jobanputra, Louis Jones, Alexander Lancaster-Lennox, Jacob Cross, Hannah Griffiths, Chloe Richardson, Charlie Daglish, Andre Guy, Wiktoria Seroczynska. Year 8 - Amelia Litchfield, Eleanor Austin, Jack Lovering, Mohammed Al Jabbar, Ceba Pink, Hope Cockings, Sophie Furnell, Jessie Hobson, Ross Da Costa. Year 9 - Diana Steward, Eloise England. Richy Londa, Mitchell Milbank, Priya Hill, Lauren Morris, Charlotte Hancox, Tia Anderson, Dionne Burton, Demi Wood, Grace Lawrence, Jackson Lancaster-Lennox, Georgina Thorneycroft, Hannah Westerberg, Luke Gutteridge, Alycia Baker, Tak Keiya Brown. Year 10 - Mindugas Griguola, Kieran Cox, Dominika Bies. Year 11 - Amy Forth
Projekt Weekend Heartthrob boy band Projekt Weekend amazed Weavers School with their good looks and fresh new sound. The up and coming band, who are due to tour with artists such as Little Mix and JLS, are currently touring the country to promote their brand new single ‘Second to none’ and spread an important anti-drugs message as well as their pride in their music. Weavers had the rare and lucky opportunity to meet the boys who turned up with their casual swag and even had the chance to sing with them on stage. The band showed both sides of their personalities; one side being funny sharing comedy anecdotes about how they all met at university, yet keeping a serious side when each of them gave their opinion on the dangers and side effects of drugs. There was a stiff competition between both sides of the hall to see who could make the most noise, the whole school shook with screams of excitement as Projekt Weekend pumped up the atmosphere with their presence. These five boys are set for a bright and successful future in the music business...step aside 1D! Marcus Vaughan - 9LG
raising aspirations...raising achievements