1964—2014

Welcome to the first newsletter of our 50th Anniversary year!

We are very proud to have been serving Ashfield for half a century, and hope you

will join us on Saturday, 12th July to celebrate this milestone. You will have the

opportunity to look around the school, maybe have a cream tea in our restaurant and

take part in some of the fun events that will be taking place.

Everyone is welcome!

Happy 50th Anniversary Ashfield School!

First day, 1964.

Help us Celebrate Ashfield’s Golden Anniversary

Saturday 12th

July, 2014

School Summer Fair and Open Day

Venue: Ashfield School.

Time: 10am – 3pm.

Admission: free.

What’s on: fun activities, market stalls, tours of the school,

memorabilia room, school dinners, cream teas etc.

Everyone welcome!

Saturday 12th

July, 2014

Celebration Concert

Venue: Ashfield School, Main Hall.

Time: 7.30pm – 9.30pm.

Admission: by ticket only (limited availability).

Price: £5 per ticket, £15 family ticket (4 people).

Everyone welcome!

Ashfield Vocal Ensemble return to John Lewis

As always, the winter term was busy with lots of exciting events...Children in Need,

Grease, Christmas Concert, Awards Evening, Careers Fair and Christmas Market to name

but a few! Here’s a glimpse of some of those amazing events.

Mrs Guy and Mr Atkins are pictured

here with the Ashfield Vocal Ensemble

opening the Christmas Shopping

season in John Lewis.

Whilst John Lewis usually invite

different groups each year, ours is the

only choir to be invited back after their

superb performance last year.

True to form, their incredible

performance brought the Christmas

shoppers to a standstill, and more than

one person was seen brushing away a

tear.

Festive Concert Showcases Ashfield’s Talent

Ashfield School showcased its musical

talent with a sparkling Christmas Concert.

With everything from the school band to

vocal solos, a student playing his own

piano composition and a number of songs

from the school’s stunning choir, the

evening really got everyone into the

Christmas spirit!

Pictured right are Jonathan Clarke (Year 9) who played one of his own composi-tions, and Charlotte Pynegar (Year 12) who sang a beautiful solo accompanied by the Head of Music, Mr Tom Atkins, on piano.

Mr Atkins said: "Students really did themselves proud and it was a pleasure to be part of a concert with so many talented young musicians.

I would like to personally thank all stu-dents involved for their hard work and commitment to bringing so much wonderful music to Ashfield School."

Christmas Awards Night

Ashfield School hosted a sparkling awards ceremony

just before the Christmas break to celebrate students’

achievements in the summer exams – both GCSEs and

A Levels.

With some students returning from university to receive

their awards, everyone dressed to impress and a sur-

prise guest speaker, the hall was buzzing with ex-

citement.

When guest speaker Richard McCann, pictured here

with Head Teacher Mr Vasey, revealed to the audience

who he was - the son of serial killer Peter Sutcliffe’s first

victim Wilma McCann - you could have heard a pin

drop in the hushed hall. No doubt expecting a dark and

sombre talk, the audience were surprised to be carried

along on Richard’s journey with equal measure of seri-

ous, yet non-self-pitying, facts and a bouncy, infectious

positivity and humour.

As students, parents and staff

filed out of the hall at the end of

the evening, many of them

stopped to talk to Richard and to

buy a copy of his latest book.

His talk, the beautiful musical

interludes courtesy of the school

vocal ensemble, and the

outstanding achievements of the

students all combined to make an

uplifting and thoroughly enjoyable

evening.

Grease Brings the House Down!

Ashfield School was invaded by the Pink Ladies and the T Birds before

Christmas as students put on a gruelling schedule of performances to sell-out audiences of

one of the best-loved musicals around…Grease!

The students were spectacular, really breathing life into the performance and, from curtain

up, instantly transporting the audience to another era at Rydell High School. It really is

difficult to know what to mention first – the great acting, the rousing music, the pitch-perfect

singing, or those fabulous dance routines. In effect, they all combined to make a fantastic,

fun night out for the audience, who were singing, clapping and toe-tapping all the way

through.

Special mention has to be made of

Paige Nussey, Dominic Allanson and

George Mugglestone. Paige took on

the role made famous by Olivia

Newton-John, that of Sandy, and

belted out those iconic songs with

confidence and verve to rapturous

applause from the audience. Dominic

brought the role of Danny to life with

some Travolta-esque moves and atti-

tude, and George Mugglestone

played Teen Angel perfectly – you

could have heard a pin drop as he

delivered his note-perfect rendition of

Beauty School Dropout.

Kenickie, played by Ross Johnson, brought some comedy to the production, as did Luke

Denman as Roger, Michelle Muyunda as Jan, and Paige Gregory as Miss Lynch. But

comedy heroes of the performance have to be Julian Salmon as Eugene and Quinn Bailey

as Vince Fontaine – they were hysterically funny and had the audience screaming with

laughter. With performances like that, they must surely have futures in comedy!

The Directors of the performance, Bryan Sluman and Rob Harper, commented that they

found working with the incredibly talented cast a thoroughly enjoyable experience, and

wanted to also commend the incredibly hard working production team for their massive

contribution to making the performance so

spectacular: Tom Atkins (Music), Mel Turner

(Choreography), Alan Wilson (Set/Technical) and

Carol Boulton (Costumes).

The team effort really paid off as the audience left

Ashfield’s theatre smiling and humming those

eternally catchy tunes having had a fabulous

evening of entertainment of a quality more

commonly associated with professional theatre.

Christmas Market

The annual Ashfield Christmas Market took part on the last day of term and was as busy

and prosperous as ever.

Part of the carousel of activities visited by Years 7 – 10, the market consisted of a food

hall, a craft hall and a challenge hall.

With a multitude of new products available to buy – from gingerbread men to Santa bunting

– there was something for everyone. And with no price exceeding £1 everyone was able

to enjoy the fun.

In addition to the Christmas shopping, there was live music and an exciting new addition…

the festive photo booth!

Last year’s market was a massive success, with nearly all stock sold!, and this year was

certainly no exception!

Special surprise guest at this year’s market

was this very sociable snowman who

entertained/startled students throughout the

whole event despite the very mild weather.

“iCan” Author Inspires Students to Achieve

Best-selling author and inspirational speaker Richard McCann was such a hit with Ashfield

School students at their December Prize Giving event that the school welcomed him back in

January.

This time, Richard’s presentation was for the 400 Year 11 students who had just received their

mock exam results, and for whom he provided plenty of inspiration and motivation ready for

their forthcoming summer exams.

Students were, in turn, hanging silently onto his every word as he told the very moving story of

his childhood, and roaring with laughter at his bouncy and relentless humour.

Richard McCann was just 5 years old when his mum became the first victim of the country’s

most notorious serial killer, Peter Sutcliffe, The Yorkshire Ripper.

He told the heart-breaking account of how he and his sister tramped the streets looking for their

mum, and of how they were later told that she was never coming home. He went on to talk of

how he and his 3 sisters were then placed in the care of their abusive father and of his ultimate

descent into drug taking, which eventually led to him being imprisoned.

Interspersed with his unique humour, and littered with anecdotes that gave clues to the

resilience and positivity that had always been there within him, his story is most definitely one of

triumph over adversity: of the importance of attitude over circumstance.

His parting message for students was very much: if I can do it, so can you. It doesn’t matter

where you live, what you wear, how you look…what matters is that you live your life with an

‘iCan’ attitude and that you’re prepared to do the work.

After his talk, Richard was very professionally interviewed by Year 12 student Dominic

Allanson, and is pictured here with Dominic taking questions from Psychology and

Uniformed Services students.

Children in Need 2013

Children in Need, 2013

Thanks to the staff and stu-

dents who dressed up—

here are just a few of them!

Ashfield School opened the doors to its impressive Post 16 Centre before Christmas to host

their first Careers Fair. They welcomed over 30 local businesses, bringing them together with

Year 10 students and their parents.

Students got the chance to speak with people from many different walks of life – from a butcher

to a prison officer, an accountant to a hairdresser – to find out what their jobs are really like,

what qualifications they would need to enter that profession, and what kinds of opportunities

those professions might offer. In turn, the businesses were keen to let students know what

kinds of skills employers are looking for when recruiting new staff – invaluable advice!

The event was organised by the school’s careers advisor, Sam Fryer, who was delighted with

the response:

“The positive response we received from both local and national companies who came to

support the event was incredible. Our mission was to expose our students to employees

working in the real world so that they were able to share their life experience and what it means

to work within that chosen industry, and thanks to all that arrived, this happened to great effect.

The students gained a large amount of advice and so we are looking forward to holding a

similar event again soon”.

Ashfield School Welcomes Local Business to

Careers Fair

ATTENTION YEAR 11 STUDENTS:

The next planned event will be an apprenticeship evening for Year 11 students on Wednesday 23rd April 2014, which aims to provide students with all the information they need about apprenticeships in all different fields. If you know of any companies/businesses that wish to be involved in this event, please ask them to contact Miss Fryer.

Diversity Days 2013

The first day included a a Bhangra workshop: a traditional form of dance originating from the Punjab region of India and Pakistan, and also a drumming workshop.

These sessions were run by Vijay Mehay, who has performed at the Commonwealth opening ceremony and the Eurovision Song Contest, and Pritam Singh, who has performed music for both Hollywood and Bollywood films. Both are huge artists in their own right.

Broadening minds and enabling students to understand different lifestyles and cultures was the name of the game at Ashfield School’s Diversity Days.

With a change in pace and focus, students observed a moving presentation by representatives of The Carpenter’s Arms, a Christian-run 12-room residential rehabilitation centre for men challenged by drug and alcohol addiction. The men very candidly shared their own personal stories of their descent into addiction, and the ramifications of this not only for themselves, but for their families and friends and the people they encountered along the way. One student commented afterwards how effective it was to hear these stories first-hand, “It was very upsetting and made me realise the true effects of alcohol and drugs”. (Following on from this, students took part in a food collection for the charity in the run up to Christmas.)

With a change in pace again, Nabila Aziz, a nuclear design engineer from Rolls Royce, delivered an eye-opening session for students to challenge their preconceptions of stereotypes, and looking at equality in the workplace. She started the session by asking students to guess what her occupation was, and didn’t reveal it until the end of the session – it certainly made students think twice about making snap judgements!

Teacher Nazia Mumtaz who organised the day said: “It was fantastic seeing students so respectful and very engaged in activities that may have been a little out of their comfort zones; they did the school proud!”

Nottingham University’s Confucius Institute

The second of Ashfield’s Diversity

Days saw the Post 16 Centre

welcome visitors from Nottingham

University’s Confucius Institute to

coincide with Chinese New Year,

and to run interesting sessions for

students on Tai Chi, Mandarin and

Calligraphy.

Part of Ashfield’s rich diversity programme, this was a great opportunity for students to

learn more about Chinese history and culture, and to have some fun at the same time!

They all really enjoyed the experience.

Pictured left is a Tai Chi demonstration, and pictured right are some of the school’s

Uniformed Services students leading from the front, and learning to write their own names

in Calligraphy.

Students inspired by European Paratriathlon Champion

2013 European Paratriathlon Champion and Rio 2016 hopeful Phil Hogg took time out of his

busy training schedule last week to visit Ashfield School and judge a challenge competition

set for a group of Year 8 students.

Working in small groups, students were asked to design a new wetsuit for a paratriathlete. Triathlon wetsuits are, of course, expertly designed – but they are designed for able-bodied athletes, which poses a serious problem for paratriathletes.

Students worked hard on their designs and presentations all day, developing many of the

skills that employers are looking for: teamwork, communication, creative thinking, problem-

solving, the list just goes on and on! Before the teams formally presented their ideas to the

judges, Phil spoke to them in detail about exactly what is involved in preparing for, and

competing in, a paratriathlon, and answered their many questions.

Then came the nerve-racking bit when students had to present their ideas to the panel of

judges, and take the judges’ questions in true Dragons’ Den style.

After all presentations had been made, each judge

commented on the fantastic way that students had

worked together as teams, on the in-depth research

they had carried out, and on the creativity they had

demonstrated. But there could only be one winner:

The Bananas, pictured here with Phil Hogg, Hayley

Key (organiser), Phil Hughes (STEMnet contract hold-

er for Nottinghamshire), and Bryan Sluman

(organiser). Well done The Bananas!

Parliament Day

Eighteen students from Year 7 recently took part in a political themed day. During the day, they

were challenged to create their own political parties, develop a robust manifesto, film their own

political party broadcast and debate a range of controversial issues. They discussed whether or

not PE should be compulsory, how they might react to a redevelopment in the local area and

how they would go about splitting a national budget to ensure each sector of society would be

financially supported. The afternoon saw them take their political opinions to Ashfield's very own

'House of Commons' and participate in a structured debate which, at times, became very

heated!

A huge well done must go to all students who took

part; a great day was had by everyone. Many

students commented afterwards that the day had

given them a new-found confidence and allowed

them to work independently on issues that really

interested them. Miss Key and Mr Sluman, who

organised the event, said that the students showed a

keen interest throughout the whole day and there

may even be some budding politicians

amongst them! Look out Mr Cameron!

Weekly Provision: A Student’s View

Since moving up from Primary to Secondary school, there have been a lot of activities and

opportunities to find what my strengths and weaknesses are. However, to improve on those

weak points, the staff at Ashfield do their best to help me in everything I do. That is why we

have TAGs. To make learning more fun and challenging, the Year 7 A* TAG students get

together every Wednesday to do activities to further our brains. The things we do are not just

Maths and English but challenges which involve us to think outside the box and that will be

useful in real life. So far this year we have completed three challenges. The first was to create a

notice board in our Year base about ourselves and what we do; the second was to make a

video about Ashfield school for the upcoming Year 6 students; and the project we are currently

on now is to plan a debate and to carry it out against the opposite team. Also, we’ve had a

parliament day where we have had a whole day to learn how this country works and to perform

a debate; it was a lot of fun and helped me to understand a lot more. I think it is fun to have this

group work and compete together as it makes us want to achieve higher and do better.

By Linxin Chen.

Calling all Ex-students!

The Year 7 Gifted & Talented group’s next challenge is to look at the history and experiences of

past students and staff at Ashfield school as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations. If

you are an ex-student of Ashfield and you have stories or photos from your time at school they

would be greatly appreciated to help the group complete their project. Please could you contact,

or send anything in that you are happy for us to use, to Mrs Ball

(fran.ball@ashfield.notts.sch.uk) or Miss Frith (caroline.frith@ashfield.notts.sch.uk).

Year 7 Gifted & Talented News

Second World War Hero is an Inspiration

This article was written by Year 13 student Rachel Gascoigne after hearing Uniformed Services’ long time friend and World War 2 hero Ray Ellis talk to students about his experiences. Ray read Rachel’s piece and was delighted with it. It earned Rachel the Guest Columnist slot in The Chad, and was published only days before Ray sadly passed away. We would like to dedicate this to Ray in remembrance of his bravery, and his generosity in sharing his story with our Uniformed Services’ students on numerous occasions despite his age and ill-health. He will be greatly missed.

The Girl with the Peach

It is hard to imagine a world without kindness: a world solely consisting of pain and hatred.

No love or compassion, nor warmth or benevolence, no forgiveness. Some may believe that

we do live in a world full of the words listed above: a world powerfully bound by abhorrence

and brutality. Take, for instance, third world countries and starving children, murder, illness

and rape. Take, for instance, war. Thousands of lives destroyed daily, simply through an act

of ignorance – something that has been happening since time began. A disagreement or a

bad decision leading to lives lost, lives ruined, and lives changed. But there is kindness in

this world; it is in everyone.

“There is no teacher like life,” says Ray Ellis, a 94 year old World War II veteran from Not-

tinghamshire. Full of honesty, morality, and not to mention a quick sense of humour, Ray is

one of those inspirational people who you look at in awe. For a man who has witnessed such

unimaginable horrors and seen the truly horrific side of war, he is full of kind-heartedness

and humanity, and possibly the most moving and heart-wrenching memoirs to ever be told.

You would think that bringing a room full of seventeen year old boys to the point of tears

would seem to be a rather bizarre and difficult experience indeed, but more than 60 years

after his war ended, Ray has no trouble moving the teens to absolute pieces. In a talk with

the Year 12 Uniformed Services students from Ashfield Post 16, Ray shared with the class

some of his invaluable life lessons from his time spent in the services.

His story begins on a bitter January night at the beginning of the war, his heart brimming with

pride and determination as he made off from everything he knew back in England for one of

his most difficult and life-changing experiences where he fought in the Western desert. He

says with the utmost modesty, “I am not a brave man; there was a job to do. I love England,

and this is my country, it is my way of life.”

The battle lasted a terrible six months; with little equipment and constant bombing by the Ital-

ians, the true horrors of war really did hit home for the young bombardier. At the end of the

battle, Ray was told to bury the dead soldiers. He was just 19 years of age. “When I left for

the war, I was leaving behind something I would never find again: my youth.”

Although Ray lost many things during his time fighting for England, there was one thing he

found to be invaluable: a lesson, “At school, nothing taught me as much as the war.” During

The Siege of Tobruk, a confrontation that lasted for a gruelling 241 days and took up to 3,836

lives, Ray tells of the true horror he experienced and of learning things that have stuck with

him to this day. “We were always in action, day and night – it was the longest siege in Great

British Military history!” In nine months, Ray and his fellow soldiers didn’t have even the small

luxury of a wash! “I didn’t bathe for 9 months; there was a desperate lack of water, there was

no sewage system or toilets. We had no letters sent, nor parcels – this war taught me so

many valuable lessons.”

“The most important thing I can tell you today would be that people are important, people

matter.”

“Throughout the siege, my relationship with my friend Cliff Smedley changed.” Ray is close to

tears as he explains how, very slowly, but incredibly noticeably, he and the men he shared

this truly horrific experience with became more than friends; they became a family. “These

men became my brothers. Everything was so hard, but you had your mate.” He asks the stu-

dents, “Shouldn’t the most important thing in your life be your family?”

During the talk, Ray speaks of other experiences within his time as a soldier, but one of the

most prominent and inspiring would be his time as a prisoner of war, a truthfully inspiring

tale. “We trekked 1000 miles through Libya. We had no food and no water, I was close to dy-

ing of starvation – and men did die, all the time. We were being sent to a concentration camp

in Italy.”

“Whilst we were walking through Naples, the locals came out from their houses to jeer and

mock us as we were marched. But then something magical happened.” Ray pauses and

brings the room to absolute silence; it is hard to explain the emotion I felt in that room at this

moment, it was like we were all breathing in tune. I believe that every single person was on

the edge of their seat!

“A little girl came running up to me from the crowds, and placed something into my hand. It

was a peach.” Ray describes his feelings ever so poetically, “It was like a sunny day, in a

very long period of bad weather. And this is what is important; you have to remember that

there will always be a girl with a peach, however hard life gets.”

Modestly, Ray almost skims past his story of escape, not going into detail at all about how he

managed to get away from the concentration camp, not once but twice! “I came here today to

give you some idea of what it’s like to be in a real war,” he explains to the Uniformed Ser-

vices class. “A great value to me in my life is something so precious: people. I learned many

great secrets in a very hard school - the war. Experiencing the kindness of my enemies

made me a kinder man – I didn’t want to harm anyone.”

After the war, Ray further exampled his kindness and the will of wanting to share the life les-

sons he learnt during the war, in becoming a teacher and then a headmaster at a local Kirkby

-in-Ashfield School, saying “I learned how to maintain discipline without punishment.”

Ray’s final message to the class is a poignant one, leaving the class utterly inspired: “I have

lived a very long and enjoyable life, and I have done many things. But the one thing I want to

leave with you is to be a kind person: be the girl with the peach.”

World War 2 veteran and concentration camp survivor Ray Ellis with Ashfield Post

16’s Uniformed Services students and course leader Julie Taylor.

Pictured here with Ray are former Uniformed Services students Jordan Broadbent,

who started his Royal Marines training this month, and Jack Worley, who started his

Royal Marines training in September 2013.

Uniformed Services visit HMS Grimsby

Just how effective is the NCFE Uniformed Services course offered at Ashfield Post 16?

For the 3 former students pictured here with Julie Taylor, Course Leader, the answer is ‘highly effective’!

Uniformed Services Student Update

From left to right they are: Jack Worley, who started his Royal Marines training in September

2013, Ainsley Maltby, who is waiting to hear if he has been successful in the final stage of his

RAF selection process, and Jordan Broadbent, who starts his Royal Marines training on 3rd

March.

They returned to Ashfield Post 16 Centre recently to share their experiences with current

Uniformed Services students, and to talk with them about the reality of both the selection pro-

cess and the day-to-day life in the armed forces.

Said Jordan: “The Uniformed Services course helped me in countless ways. It informed me

so that I could make the right decision about which of the services I wanted to enter; it

prepared me for the selection process; and it equipped me to deal with day-to-day life in the

forces.”

Jack added: “The course helped me in so many ways. It definitely helped me to prepare for

the selection process, but mostly it has enabled me to develop the mental strength and

discipline that I need to undertake the challenges that I face every day as part of basic

training.”

Ainsley is waiting to hear if he has made it through to the final 35 out of 180 applicants in his

RAF selection. With so much competition for so few places, he is certain that his Uniformed

Services course helped him to get this far: “The course helped me to make an informed

decision about which service I wanted to join, and it definitely helped me achieve the level of

fitness I needed to get this far. I feel that learning the things I’ve learned on the course

helped me to really stand out from the crowd and shine throughout the selection process.”

Uniformed Services students were recently lucky enough to be invited on board HMS Grimsby for a tour of the ves-sel. They also got the oppor-tunity to try out some of the equipment! Pictured here are Jack Pickering in part of the Royal Navy's diving wear and Mitchell Grainger.

Ashfield Post 16 Level 2 Brickwork Diploma student Alex Scrivins stormed to victory this week

in the prestigious Guild of Bricklayers Competition 2014 – not only taking first place in the

Senior competition (when, officially, he was able to enter the Junior competition ), but also

winning the coveted Olney Cup. This trophy is awarded to the student who, in the opinion of

the judges, ‘tackles the model in the most workmanlike manner and produces the best…model

in the competition’ and is the ultimate accolade to go on his CV!

Alex is no newcomer to success – last year saw him leave the competition standing as he won

the new entrant regional heat of Skillbuild 2013, the UK’s biggest construction skills competition.

Jay Hallam, tutor to both boys at Ashfield Post 16 Centre, could not be prouder of his students:

“They are both winners in my eyes; Alex has achieved so much in such a short space of time. It

takes a lot of courage to enter competitions and Ricky has made huge progress in his first year

as a trainee bricklayer. These boys are becoming extremely employable. Finally, huge thanks

must also go to the competition committee, Mr Thorpe and Mr Walden for entering the boys at

such late notice.”

Alex will now be going on to compete against other regions in the National Guild of Bricklayers

Final to be held in Brighton on 20th June.

For anyone due to leave school in the summer and interested in construction, please call

Ashfield Post 16 Centre for more information. Places are limited for September 2014.

Ashfield Students Building Success!

Competing for the very first time was Ricky Ball

(pictured left), another student of Mr Hallam’s, shown

here with his work and also showing great promise for

future competitions.

Ricky said: “Mr Hallam has changed my life , I don’t

know where I would be if it wasn’t for Sir - certainly not

competing in competitions!”

Pictured here with this week’s trophies,

Alex said of his victory: “A massive

thanks to everybody who has supported

me throughout the last few months,

especially Sir. I am so excited about the

National Final, where I will have the

chance to be amongst the elite

winners.”

Rotary Club Young Chef of the Year

The heat was on in the kitchen at Charnwood, Ashfield School, recently, as 4 students did culinary battle in the club heat of the Rotary Club Young Chef Competition.

All four Year 10 students are studying NVQ L2 Diploma in Hospitality Services with Charnwood. They had devised their own menus, working to a budget and with healthy-eating guidelines, and had a set time to prepare, cook and present their 3-course meals.

Menu 1, Jessica James

Carrot & Coriander Soup

Chilli con Carne

Apple & Rhubarb Crumble

Menu 2, Strawberry Barlow

Tomato & Basil Bruschettas

Lamb Chops with Tomato & Mint Salad

Biscuity Lime Pie

Menu 3, Nathan Kania

Salmon Fishcakes with Rocket Salad & Bal-

samic Glaze

One-pan Duck with Savoy Cabbage

Chocolate Brownies with Home-made Ice

Cream & Raspberry Coulis

Menu 4, Tom Shaw

Salsa Topped Bruschettas

Extra-lean Minced Beef Balls in Red

Wine Sauce with Linguini

Chocolate & Banana Bread Pudding

All students worked really hard and pro-duced some delicious meals, but there could only be one winner...Jessica James!

Jessica will now go through to the district heat of the competition to represent Ashfield School.

Pictured right are: Nathan Kania, Tom Shaw, Jessi-

ca James, Strawberry Barlow and Rtn Roger

Pursey, President Elect.

The judges had a tough job, and one of them, Conan Brooks, understood exactly how the competitors were feeling as he was the school’s representative last year. He now has an apprenticeship at Launey’s, a fine dining restaurant in Edwinstowe, and was happy to return to school to share his expertise.

Beauty Students’ Fundraiser

On Monday the 10th March the Level 3 Beauty students raised money for Marie Curie Cancer

Care. They sold cakes and had a tombola which raised £58.80. In addition, funds raised from providing treatments for clients raised another £35.50.

The students also took the opportunity to hand out discount vouchers to clients for further treatments to raise the profile of the department and highlight the range of services on offer.

Former Ashfield Students at 10 Downing Street

Two former Ashfield hospitality students, Conan Brooks and Charlie Walter, who trained with Charnwood and are now successfully employed in the hospitality industry, are pictured here with other apprentices outside 10 Downing Street recently.

Conan and Charlie were amongst a handful of hospitality apprentices who had the honour of catering and serving at the Deputy Prime Minister’s opening speech in support of National Apprenticeship Week (NAW).

The 120 guests who attended the event included learners and employers showcasing their talents to educational policy makers. The event featured an impressive showcase exhibition, produced to highlight the talents of young apprentices from across a number of high profile companies chosen from across UK industry. Apprentices were also intro-duced to Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and Minister for Skills and Enter-prise Matthew Hancock.

This is the second year in a row that Charnwood Training Group has been invited to number 10 Downing Street , and it was a real honour for Conan and Charlie to participate.

World Book Day Week

In most schools, World Book Day is just that...one day. But here at Ashfield, we like to go

one better, so students were treated to a week of exciting visitors and events to inspire them

to read more, and even to start writing their own books!

The week kicked off with Paula Rawsthorne, Nottingham-based

author of teenage fiction including “The Truth about Celia Frost”,

speaking to Year 8 students about her work, how she started

writing, and some tips on how they could start writing their very

own book.

This was followed on Tuesday with a motivational talk and creative writing workshops from

Birmingham author and motivational speaker Errol Lawson.

He shared his own life story with Year 9 students, telling them how he

turned his back on a life of drugs and gang-related crime to become a

Youth Leader, Pastor, Motivational Speaker and published author. His

book, “From the Postcode to the Globe”, charts this dramatic change

and sends out a strong and positive message: anyone can turn their

life around and succeed if they stay positively focused and work hard

towards their goals. During Errol’s workshops, he enabled students to

start writing their very own books, and a number of them assured him

that they would carry on writing them.

Thursday saw the entire English

Department at Ashfield coming to

school dressed as characters from

famous books, creatively engaging

students in discussions about

which character they were and

from which book, inspiring students

to broaden their reading.

The day was rounded off with Canadian-born author of the

MetaWars series of books, Jeff Norton, sharing with Year 7

students the creative process he goes through to write his

stories, and the inside track on where he gets his inspiration

from. A long line of students then queued to buy his book

and get it signed by the author himself.

An inspiring week all round, with lots more students visiting

the school library to order copies of the visitors’ books!

The Robots are Coming!

Friday 29th February saw 8 of our brightest Year 9 girls attend an Engineering workshop at the University of Nottingham. The event was sponsored by Caterpillar© with the aim of getting more young people, specifically girls, into engineering over the next few years.

The day started with a talk on what it was to be an engineer, the different jobs within the engineering sector and the different pathways and courses available at the University.

Then came the fun; each student was provided with a robotic arm that needed to be built from scratch and which consisted of motors, gears, wires, circuit boards and parts, not to mention what seemed like 100s of screws! The girls loved the activity, even more so when they found out that they got to keep their robotic arm!

The day finished with a tour of the university’s research labs including standing in a classroom-sized microwave! All students involved enjoyed the experience and the majority would now consider engi-neering as a career option, so a successful day all round!

A group of Post 16 students from Ashfield School recently represented school in the Bar

National Mock Trial Competition at Nottingham Crown Court.

Organised by the Citizenship Foundation, the competition provides students with a unique opportunity

to see, experience and participate in a Crown Court trial. The students themselves play the roles of

barristers, witnesses, jurors and court staff, and they are given two cases to prepare which they must

present during the course of the day, facing teams from other schools and colleges in the region. The

trials are judged by real practicing judges and barristers and the students are marked on their

performance in each of the roles. One of the students commented: “It was a good experience as we

got to see what each role was in a criminal trial. We participated in the trial, gaining experience of the

procedure. We also saw it from the jury’s point of view. The whole experience supported our studies of

Criminal Law.”

Despite a few last-minute hitches, including one student being unable to attend (meaning that Cody

Guy had to step up to the plate and take on the role of 2

witnesses!), each and every student did an incredible job

and produced some outstanding performances.

Teacher Amelia Fraser, who organised the trip, said: “The

Mock Trial is a fantastic opportunity for students to gain ex-

perience of how the Criminal Law works in prac-

tice. The students undertake each role in the trial, and

through this they gain an understanding of the trial process,

as well as gaining an understanding of how the laws they

learn in A Level Law can be applied in ‘real life’.

Pictured here are participating students, Abigail Dunn, Jake Rogers,

Emma Morris, Sam Renshaw, Amy Shepherd, Georja Boag, Katie Hughes, Shannon Coxhead, Cody Guy and Megan Turner.

Ashfield Post16 Students in Mock Trial Experience

A Week in the Life of Performing Arts Students!

The Drama Department have hit the ground running this term with lots of exciting opportunities for students; here’s a snapshot of what happened in just one week! Monday: Celebration ‘after show party’ for the cast and crew involved in the fabulous production of Grease that took place before Christmas. Students performed over 4 nights to sell-out audiences and the whole school was buzzing with it! The party was a chance for students to watch video footage of their performances, reminisce about the whole experience, and take part in a short awards ceremony. Everyone agreed that they were very proud to have been involved in the production! Tuesday: A drama lecturer from Loughborough University visited to run a devising workshop for one of the Year 11 classes. This was an amazing opportunity for students to work with an external drama professional and very timely as they are currently putting together their final devised performance for their practical exam!

Tuesday (evening): Year 13 Drama and Theatre

Studies students travelled to Sheffield to see a mod-

ernised production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream: a

brilliant performance which the students loved! This

should now have enabled them to write about the play

in their June exam with passion and flare. As ever, the

students represented the school (and themselves) im-

peccably!

Friday: We welcomed to school a theatre company from London, Splendid Productions, who performed their version of the Greek tragedy Antigone for students from Year 9 through to Year 13, all of whom really enjoyed the experience. Following the performance, the performers led 3 workshops for students, providing them with the opportunity to try out a range of dramatic techniques with professional actors. This kind of experience will really help the students, from those completing their GCSE portfolios to those studying for A Lev-els.

Iceland Trip

The eagerly awaited trip to Iceland (Fri 14th Feb – Mon 17

th Feb) for the years 11, 12 and

13, accompanied by Miss Greenland and Mr Foulk, was definitely a worthwhile experience.

In recent years Iceland has became a popular holiday destination due to its unique

landscape and tectonic activity, with one of its most recent volcanoes, Eyjafjallajokull,

erupting in 2010.

Our journey began flying from Heathrow to Keflavik airport. We were all astounded by the

temperature drop (with averages of -1°C) and the landscape, which was covered in rocks

and moss. We immediately went straight to the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal heated

swimming pool. The water is heated to 40°C and is rich with natural minerals which are

good for the skin. After a few hours spent there we headed to our hotel for the night

The next day we had a lot more planned which began with seeing a small “greenhouse”

town and some new hot springs that were created by an earthquake in 2008. Next we were

able to see two beautiful waterfalls, Seljalandfoss and Skogafoss, which are up to 60 me-

tres high. Then it was on to the glacier walk, where we were given specialist equipment

and we were able to trek along the glacier. The glacier was full of cracks and openings, so

we had to be especially careful, thankfully no one fell in. Later that night at the hotel we all

witnessed the most spectacular natural events on the planet, the Northern lights. Streams

of green and red filled the sky; it is one of the most amazing sights you could ever see!

On the third night we left the hotel early in the morning to go visit a basaltic beach formed by

ancient lava flows. The cooled lava had formed hexagonal columns similar to those at the

Giants Causeway in Ireland. Soon after we headed to a volcanic crater lake to have lunch,

but it was so windy and cold that no one could finish. Next it was on to the Geysir’s, where

they erupt every 5-8 minutes up to heights of 30 metres and the water is a scolding 100°C.

Finally it was a quick visit to Thingveller national park where part of the mid Atlantic ridge is

located. Here the Eurasian and North American plates are pulling apart at 2cm a year. The

night was spent at a Viking themed hotel, decorated with Nordic furniture and props. For

dinner it was a traditional Viking meat soup, which was just what everyone needed.

Finally on the last day our time was spent visiting famous sights around Reykjavik. First we

visited the incredible Hallgrimskirkja church, where the design was based on the basaltic

columns we saw the day before. Then we went to the Perlan Museum where we had a

wonderful view of Reykjavik from the top. Then it was on to the main shopping area of the city,

so we could finally spend our Króna on souvenirs. After 2 hours of hitting the stores it was time

to return home, although we wished we could have stayed a little longer. We left from Keflavik

airport where some people were lucky enough to get a photo with Jonathon Ross! We arrived

back at Ashfield at around 10pm on Monday.

Overall the trip was an enjoyable, educational, fantastic experience and I’m sure next year’s trip

will be even better.

Written by: Thomas Gray (Year 13)

On 4th and 5th March, lucky students in Year 10 attended Raising the Grade conferences in

French and Spanish, accompanied by Ms Cairns, Miss Lee and Mr Thompson. They were

treated to 3 workshops, all geared towards helping with

their controlled assessment, a motivational workshop, a

tour of the campus and, most importantly, a really lovely

lunch and as many hot drinks and snacks as they could

manage!

The students enjoyed the day immensely and certainly

left feeling much more confident and with high

aspirations for future study at University. After all, it was

'a lot less scary' than they thought and it was 'much bet-

ter than being at school'!

Well done to all participants; they entered into all activities wholeheartedly, were impeccably

behaved and were a credit to Ashfield.

Raising the Grade in French and Spanish!

On 5th February, 24 Year 9 Art students went on a taster day at Loughborough University.

The students were given the chance to experience three different workshops that showcased some of the options for students wanting to study Art and Design at degree level. The three workshops were:

Ceramics Paper-making Animation

Taster Day at Loughborough University

Rain Forest Visitors

Inspired by the Rainforest Geography unit in Year 8, Ashfield re-

cently played host to some very exotic visitors!

The visit enabled students to learn about how animals are

adapted to live in that region (the meerkat, although a desert resi-

dent, was a welcome addition to the menagerie in order to

demonstrate the differences in how animals adapt to live in differ-

ent ecosystems). Students were enthralled by the varied crea-

tures, the more intrepid amongst them eagerly volunteering to hold the corn snake, the boa

constrictor, the skunk, the millipedes, and everyone’s favourite… the meerkat. The tarantula

didn’t come out to play, however, as he was apparently not in a good mood!

Whilst the students very gently handled the creatures, Michaela from Tropical Inc provided

them with lots of really interesting information about the animals, the way they live and their

habitat. One student said of the experience: “It was fun to get up close to such amazing

animals that you may never get the chance to see again”. Another commented: “It was a

great way to learn about the animals, seeing them so close up and being able to hold

them”.

The day was such a success that some students even came away with a new goal of study-

ing for a Zoology degree in order to work with amazing animals like the ones they met!

Michaela, from Tropical Inc, and the Ashfield staff members involved in the day commented

on the outstanding behaviour and fantastic knowledge of the students.

Ashfield School invited The Sophie Lancaster Foundation in recently to present a powerful talk

to Year 9 students about bullying and hate crimes, and about the ramifications of standing by

and doing nothing.

The charity was founded by Sylvia Lancaster following a brutal attack that left her daughter,

Sophie, dead, and Sophie’s boyfriend, Rob, fighting for his life. Both Goths, Sophie and Rob

were attacked purely because of the way they looked: the way they were dressed. It is

therefore a focus of the foundation to create respect for, and understanding of, subcultures

within our communities – such as the Goth culture – and to Stamp Out Prejudice, Hatred and

Intolerance Everywhere: S.O.P.H.I.E.

Jenny Lee, Assistant Achievement Leader who helped organise the event, said: “We were

looking for a hard-hitting presentation to really make students consider how they treat others.

Sylvia Lancaster’s presentation did this perfectly.”

Mrs Lancaster spoke eloquently and movingly about exactly what happened to Sophie and Rob,

and the students, who were visibly moved by the story, listened silently.

One student said after the presentation: “I found it moving and touching because someone was

so strong to tell us her story about how her daughter was tragically killed. It’s given us another

insight into bullying, and taught us to have respect for whoever or whatever the person may be,

and to respect the fact that they dress and look how they do.”

Another student added: “The assembly touched everyone and I realised that everyone’s the

same, no matter how they look, and that everyone should be treated the same.”

If anyone would like more information about The Sophie Lancaster Foundation, please see the

website: www.sophielancasterfoundation.com.

In March, the Anti-bullying Ambassadors held a cake sale to

raise money for the Beat Bullying charity and to promote to Year

7 the work they are doing around school.

The students made some fantastic cakes, including the ones

here made by Amelia Warren with the Anti-bullying Ambassador

logo on, and managed to raise over £65!

Many Year 7s expressed an interest in becoming an

ambassador and their training will begin this term.

Anti-bullying Ambassadors

Anti-Bullying Day at Ashfield

In conjunction with Sure Start, we have been running a Strengthening Families Programme in school on a Tuesday evening for 7 weeks.

Six families from Years 7-10 have engaged up to now, and have worked on topics such as Setting and Supporting Goals, Making and Keeping House Rules, Appreciating Youth and Parents, Dealing with Stress and Using Family Meetings.

The aim of the programme is to improve relationships within the home and to help to make fam-ily bonds stronger. During the sessions, we divide into 2 groups, one for Youth and one for Parents, and each work on individual topics. At the end, the families all come back together to work which creates lots of discussion and conversation.

All participants have engaged really well and contributed to the groups superbly.

Laura Allison, Family Support Worker

Ashfield School Counsellor

Strengthening Families Programme

Ashfield School prides itself on the care it takes of its students, and the ethos it has to develop

them as whole people, educationally and emotionally. As part of this exceptional pastoral

care, it now boasts a full-time, on-site Counsellor.

Whilst many schools offer this service on a part-time basis, the school is proud to be able to

offer wider help and support to its students with dedicated full-time counsellor Linda Fern.

Not just a reactive service, it proactively tackles issues such as anger management and low

self-esteem, enabling students to manage their emotions and behaviour so that they are more

able to engage with lessons and other students.

Linda said about her role: “…It’s really forward thinking of the school to have a full-time

counsellor in place and shows how seriously they take the emotional wellbeing of their

students.”

Ashfield School takes the safety and well-being of its students very seriously. With this in

mind, a team of Year 10 Mentors has been trained to offer support and a friendly ear to any

students (specifically Year 7 and 8 students) who may need help or guidance, or just

someone to talk to, but who prefer to speak with a peer rather than an adult. The programme

has been created by Andrew Roberts (Learning Mentor), Laura Allison (Family Support Work-

er) and Linda Fern (School Counsellor), and they have all played a part in training the

students.

All of the Mentors volunteered to take part in the

programme, and then had to go through an

interview process to be accepted onto the team.

Five weeks of in-depth training followed, led by

Linda, Andrew and Laura, covering all eventuali-

ties to ensure that students were ready to take

on this responsibility.

Amongst some of the invaluable skills that

students learned were: communication, listening,

maintaining eye contact, and confidentiality.

They have also learned when to refer students

with more serious problems to Linda or Laura.

The group were all very excited to have finished their training and are now more than ready to

start making a positive difference to their fellow students. Indeed, the motivation for the

Mentors to take on this role was to help others, and a number of them intend carrying this

through to their careers, with one focused on becoming a paediatrician and another a

psychologist.

At the end of their year as Mentors, these students will then help to train up new Mentors,

again adding to the skill-set they have acquired through the programme.

When asked what they had gained so far from the training, the 2 most common outcomes

were improved self-confidence and a more open mind. That’s a positive result before they

have even begun to help other students!

Laura Allison, Family Support Worker, said of the scheme: “Having such a positive group of

Peer Mentors will most definitely benefit the younger pupils of Ashfield School. We have been

really impressed by how positive and proactive the group have been. They have made lots of

suggestions for how the project can evolve to help even more students in the future and have

brought lots of ideas to the table. The Mentors will gain lots of experience in helping others,

problem-solving and communication skills, and this will help them in their futures, whatever

they choose to do next. Mentees will feel supported by their peers, having another avenue

within school to voice their concerns or worries which will help improve their self-esteem.”

For any students wishing to use the service, there is a post box in student services

where students can request to see a peer mentor. Appointments will then take place

during lunchtime in student services.

Year 10 Peer Mentors

INTERMEDIATE MATHS CHALLENGE In February, the following students took part in the UK Maths Challenge run by The University

of Leeds and achieved either a Bronze, Silver or Gold certificate. Nationally, Bronze winners are

in the top 40%, Silver winners are in the top 20% and Gold winners in the top 10%!

Special mentions go to

Michael Howlett, Emma Pratt, Sydney Alexander, Rebecca Quinton

who qualified for the follow on Kangaroo Maths Challenge and will now compete

against students across Europe.

These are fantastic results!

GOLD AWARD WINNERS

SILVER AWARD WINNERS

BRONZE AWARD WINNERS

Y10 Y11

Lewis Dobson (BEST IN YEAR) Chloe Overfield

Michael Howlett (BEST IN SCHOOL)

Emma Pratt Sydney Alexander

Y9 Y10 Y11

Rebecca Quinton (BEST IN YEAR)

Andy Wang

Jake Easom Cameron Chivers

Lewis Phillips Natasha Johnson

Jacques Issartel Sarah Baird

Danny Johnston Emily Renshaw

Jessica Gill Christopher Colley Emily Hutchinson

Y9 Y10 Y11

Ella Peacock

Owen Newton Thomas Wheelwright

Michael Ginever Joshua Matchett Nathan Boswell Hannah Hibbert Jessica Johnson Megan Walters Eleanor Morley

Alexandra Spiby

Maths Department Round-up

YEAR 10 TEAM MATHS CHALLENGE

On the 5th March, the Year 10 Team Maths Challenge was held at Loughborough University. Four of our

top Year 10 maths students – Lewis Dobson, Chloe Overfield, Louis Freeman and Cameron Chivers -

were selected and represented Ashfield against a host of grammar and private schools. In preparation

students had to take on the daunting task of learning how to calculate with

numbers to the base 6 – turning everything they knew about adding and

multiplying on its head! The day didn’t get off to a great start with the taxi

accidentally dropping us off at the chemistry block but the team pulled to-

gether to successfully orientate ourselves to the elusive Ann Packer build-

ing! The day consisted of 5 tough rounds and Ashfield got stuck in with

enthusiasm – keeping their marker on his toes!

Round 1 – Comparison – multiple choice questions designed to make you think about conversions and

real life maths – thankfully Cameron knew the difference between Rugby Union and Rugby League!

Round 2 – Name that Rule – identifying the rule for a sequence before the timer ended, most were flum-

moxed by the sneaky exponential one at the end!

Round 3 – Problem Solving – a collection of cross numbers and investigations with only 25 mins to

complete, thankfully we had Lewis’s problem solving skills on our side!

Round 4 – Studied Round – a Blockbuster-style game calculating with numbers to the base 6 – a chal-

lenging round involving solving equations to the base 6.

Round 5 – Relay – trusting your team mates to pass on the correct answers for the following questions.

In the end we ranked in the top 7 teams out of a total of 14 – getting more than double the points of

some of our rivals! I’d like to congratulate the team for their efforts and I know there’ll be more to come

from them in the future – bring on the Senior Team Challenge!

Miss Williams

SENIOR TEAM MATHS CHALLENGE

Four elite(!!) mathematicians from P16 (2 year 12s and 2 year 13s) visited Derby University to attend

the Senior Maths Challenge Group competition on Wednesday 6th November. Team Ashfield were one

of fifteen teams competing for the chance to head to London for the national competition.

The competition consisted of 3 rounds:

Round 1 – 10 questions which used mathematical skills and methods to solve problems

Round 2 – Cross number round (like a crossword but where that answers are numerical) - the team was

split into 2 pairs with one pair needing to answer the across clues and one pair the down clues. The

pairs were not allowed to talk directly to the other pair – they had to use an intermediary to find answers

where clues required them to use the other pairs answers.

Round 3 – Question Relay where the answer from one questions was related to the following question.

The day was challenging but definitely fun. It was great to experience competition in maths. Team Ash-

field came 8th …which is better than the team expected!

Special thanks to Mrs Ball for taking the team!

Heather Colley and Alex Walker

Maths Department Round-up continued...

MATHS INSPIRATION – THE CRUCIBLE On 13

th March a group of Year 12/13 maths students visited the renowned Crucible Theatre in

Sheffield for a series of maths talks delivered by some of the UK’s most inspiring maths speak-

ers.

The event was hosted by stand up mathematician Matt Parker, who had us hooked from the

start by completing a Rubik’s cube in under 3 minutes! Architectural

Analyst Paul Shepherd delivered his talk ‘Raising the Roof at Rio’ – ex-

plaining the maths behind the Millennium Dome and how to build an

Olympic Stadium that won’t fall down or flood. He left us with the

thought that in the future construction cranes could be replaced by ro-

botic helicopters, scary!

He was followed by Rob Eastaway talking about the Maths of TV

Gameshows. After a game of ‘Nasty or Nice’ we realised that Nice

guys DON’T finish last; you should always bank after every correct

question in the Weakest Link to ensure maximum profit; and A Level statistics can help you

beat the banker at Deal or No Deal!

The final act was Colin Wright, software specialist and juggler! He showed us his mathematical

formula for creating the perfect juggling routine and wowed us with his 5-5-2 technique!

A big thank you to Mrs Hill for

organising the trip and provid-

ing a picnic for us on the bus

– a great day was had by all!

Miss Williams

YOUNG BRIDGE CHALLENGE

On Saturday 15th March, two of our top Year 9 mathematicians attended Loughborough Gram-

mar School for the Young Bridge Challenge. They took part in the Mini Bridge Pairs competition

run by the English Bridge Union. After an exhausting 5 hours,

having played 18 games, the girls finished the day with a few

more tricks up their sleeve for next time.

Thank you to Mr Raine for preparing them for the big day!

Maths Department Round-up continued...

As ever, Christmas was a very

busy time for the Leos!

They held a very successful cake

sale (and home-made cakes, at

that!) in Post 16 in aid of the John

Eastwood Hospice.

Then the week before Christ-

mas they joined the Mansfield

Lions to sing Christmas songs

and entertain children on the

children’s ward at Kings Mill

Hospital.

Joined by Santa, courtesy of

the Lions, the group sang

beautifully, and brought big

smiles to the children’s faces!

They also ran a stall at the Kirkby Christmas Market at the Festival Hall and raised over £200!

They have badged up 6 new members from Year 7 - parents came and several of the Mansfield Lions and their partners. The Year 7s have been busy selling sweets and raised over £60 for Make a Wish and are busy planning their next events – food parcels and a sponsored sleep out for the local homeless!

Also, as a club they have been nominated for the Ashfield Civic award for their work. Susan Hibbert, Mansfield Lions President Nigel Canham and the current and former Leos’ presidents Rebecca and Lauren will all be going to the awards dinner at Portland School on 28

th March –

posh frock an’ all!

Leos News

Ashfield’s Sarah is a True Inspiration

Sarah Miles is a real inspiration to all those who meet her, and in recognition of the tireless charity work that she does, she has recently been announced as the overall county winner of the 4uth Award at a prestigious event held at County Hall in Nottingham. We think that Sarah is a very deserving winner—whilst studying for her GCSEs, she also

takes part in a youth club where she can often be found listening to other girls’ problems and

supporting them, attends St John’s ambulance events, leads fundraising charity events, and

also holds down a Saturday job.

As if all that weren’t enough, she can often be found helping others, such as the elderly

neighbour whose drive she cleared during last winter’s terrible snow!

With this kind of determination and positivity, we’re certain that a very successful future lies ahead of Sarah.

Ashfield School Shines at Active Ashfield Awards

Ashfield School students were regulars on the stage on Friday night at the Active Ashfield

Awards, with many of them coming away winners.

Their Year 10 Netball Team won the Secondary School Team Award, and The Junior

Team Award went to their volleyball team, Ashfield Vipers. Olympic medallist Oliver Hynd,

also a student at the school, won the Disabled Sportsperson Award, and a total of 23 out

of the 35 nominations for the Junior Sportsperson Award were Ashfield students (one of

whom, Jack Sawyer, received his Gold Card Award)!

In addition, the school had the following nominations:

Junior Disabled Sportsperson Award: Kieran Vardy

Coach Awards: Ian Clews

Volunteer Award: Sarah Hardy

Secondary School Team Award winners, Junior Team Award winners, Ashfield

Yr 10 Netball Team with Coach Lynda Lyons Vipers U15 Girls Volleyball Team with

Coach, Ian Clews

A successful evening for the

school was nicely rounded off

with them receiving a special

award for being only the 2nd

school in the county to receive

Sports Leadership Academy sta-

tus. Pictured here are the

school’s Head Teacher, Mr

Richard Vasey, and the Teacher

in Charge of Leadership, Cathe-

rine Hargreaves, collecting their

award.

As if that weren’t success enough, the squad were entered into the National Volleyball League this year, playing in Division 3...and won their first match 3-0! They are already the youngest squad in the NVL, but the average was lowered further by the inclusion of Emily Smith, at just 12 years of age. Team coach Ian Clews said: “This would be satisfying for anyone making their National League debut, but for a 12 year old to do it is, quite frankly, ridiculous! It speaks volumes for her character and the ability she has. To put it in context, NVL Division 3 is the same level that I play at....” In November, Alice represented England U17 Girls at the Northern European Volleyball Zon-al Association (NEVZA) Championship, competing against Norway, Sweden, Finland, Den-mark, Iceland and Faroe Islands.

Success All the Way for Ashfield Volleyball

Ashfield School’s Under 16 girls’ volleyball team, pictured below, has qualified for the last 8s of the National Championships. The girls have played 7 matches to get to this stage…and they haven’t dropped a set yet, with some teams even struggling to get into double fig-ures against them! They are now firmly focused on the last 8s which will include a group stage and the semi-finals to decide who will go through to the National Final. The squad consisted of:

Alice Kenworthy, Paige Nussey, Shelby Hague, Jess Edwards, Chloe Lounds, Emily Lounds, Megan Worley (all Year 11), Paisley Ward (Year 9), and Emily Smith (Year 8).

In January, Ashfield student Josh Walker, pictured below, became double gold Midland Open Taekwondo Champion in sparring and high kick, and also got a bronze in patterns.

Josh is Taekwondo Champ!

Kade is Kicking His Way to Success!

Kade Hardy (10BY2) is currently the

reigning midland champion kick boxer.

He fought in Birmingham last year and

won the midland title with a 3rd

round

stoppage of his opponent.

Kade also successfully defended his

title with a fight in Accrington which

went all the way to the 5th round where

Kade won on points. He is due to fight

in March this year for the British title

which will take place in Alfreton. Last

year, Kade was invited to Italy to fight

for the world kickboxing title. However,

due to his busy schedule, he was una-

ble to attend.

Due to Kade’s extraordinary ability in Kick Boxing it is a very strong possibility that he will be

representing Team GB in the next 2016 Olympics due to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

We are extremely proud of Kade and his achievements so far, we are confident he will go on

to do great things and hopefully one day become a kick boxing world champion.

Well Done Kade!!!!

Year 7 Football team on their way to Mansfield Town FC!

Congratulations to the boys in the Year 7 football team for their recent 7—1 victory over

Tuxford School, which has taken them through to the Mansfield Town Cup Final at the One

Call Stadium (date and time to be confirmed). The 7 amazing goals were scored by:

Jack Bradley—2

George Clarke—2

Nathan Clarke—1

Bradley Prosser—1

Evan Wood—1

Keep an eye on the school website

for more details as they are an-

nounced and come along to support

the team.

Ashfield Football Tour 2014

The long and winding road to Barcelona is almost complete for the 44 excited members of the school football team. The school’s 4

th football tour is due to

depart for warmer climates on the first Saturday of the May half term break. A fantastic effort has

been made towards the fundraising process with bag packs, triathlons and raffles completed. Huge thanks are also due to Waring Engineering who have generously sponsored the playing kits that will be worn with pride dur-ing the 3 games whilst abroad. Further thanks to those who have donated raffle prizes including the fantastic foot-ball tour cake from Katie Plant’s Scrumptious Cakes. The effort made by all of the boys so far will no doubt be worth it with a trip to Barcelona, its Nou Camp football stadium and local water park on the list of events whilst away. We look forward reporting on another successful trip with hopefully numerous wins against strong Spanish opposi-tion!

The boys’ Year 10 Handball team played in the Nottinghamshire Championships on Friday 14th

March. It was their first ever competitive games and they showed real character during the competition against a very tough group.

In the first game, the boys scored 2 goals to take the lead courtesy of Johan Lai and Thomas Hunt. However, the 2 County Players of Rushcliffe started to take control of the game with them winning 3-2 in the end.

Against Carlton Academy they dominated throughout and were winning 2-0 before Will Bradshaw scored to pull us back into the game. Carlton then scored 2 goals that should have been disallowed leaving the boys extremely disappointed as it effectively ended the game as a contest. They were the better team and did deserve their win. The 4-1 score line flattered Carlton but with 3 players in the County team, and one being the Notts Star player, we did very well to compete.

In the final game, everything started to click and with the boys determined not to go home losing all 3 games they upped their ante. The team controlled possession and worked their shooting chances and ran away with the game beating Bulwell 4-0 with goals from Thomas Hunt 2, Will Bradshaw and Johan Lai. Any shots from Bulwell found George Moore in great form with him saving 5 rockets that were flying in. It was a great squad performance and shows real promise for future fixtures!

The squad was: George Moore, Josh Newby, Connor Bower, Will Bradshaw, Thomas Grace,

Dominic Taylor, Robert Orrell, James Carr, Mark Miles, William Waterfield, Thomas Hunt,

Johan Lai.

Year 10 Boys’ Handball Team Success

Ashfield’s very own star swimmer, Ruslan Golubs, has been crowned overall National Champi-

on at the Latvian Winter National Short Course Championships.

Ruslan swam a fabulous Personal Best time of 8 minutes

42.85 seconds in the 800m Freestyle event. He also

went on to take a silver medal in the 400m Individual

Medley event with another Personal Best time of 4

minutes 43.92 seconds.

To fully complete his stash of medals, Ruslan won a

bronze medal in the 200m Butterfly event in a time of 2

minutes 14.91 seconds.

Well done, Ruslan, we’re proud of you!

The Year 8 Netball team recently reached the final of the U13 County Netball Tournament, held at Emmanuel School in Nottingham, only to be beaten into second place (making them County Championship runners-up!) by the Nottingham Girls High School. Our players were absolute stars, playing their socks off and doing so well to qualify for the semi finals in such a tough group. They had already beaten Bramcote Park in the Semis to face the High School in the final!

On the night, the High School were indeed the better team, but the girls really did keep working hard to try and win. The score in the final game was 12-4. To say all the other teams the High school had played lost 19-0 or 17-0 we did ourselves proud and I dually informed them that they are the number 1 non fee-paying school in the county!

They also won the West Notts PE Association District tournament to go with their Notts Central Venue League Championship!

Netball has not come naturally to some of the squad and they have worked so hard in practice every Wednesday to improve as players and as a team, which makes me even more proud of them and their achievements over the 2013-2014 season!

Congratulations to them all!

Miss Hargreaves

The team were: Chloe Martin, Emily Moore, Sophie Overfield, Lauren Dobbs, Ella Booth, Abbie Shirley, Chelbi Gladsby, Lauren Bustard, Lauren Baugh, Grace Stenson

Ruslan is crowned Latvian National Champion!

U13 County Netball Tournament

Sports Round-up

Year 7 girls Futsal finished in third place in the Ashfield District competition. After the top three teams finished on the same points it came down to goals against leaving them in third position.

KS4 girls Basketball finished in second place. After beating two teams from Quarrydale and losing narrowly to Hucknall National school.

KS3 Girls Tag Rugby finished in second place. After beating a Team from Samworth Academy and Joseph Whitaker.

Girls Contact Rugby came in first in an Ashfield and Mansfield district tournament and then went on to finish in second place losing by one try to Samworth Academy but still go on to represent the area at the regional finals at Market Harborough on the 25

th March.

KS3 Girls Basketball. Finished in first place in the Ashfield District tournament putting them through to the County Finals.

U13 Girls Indoor Cricket. Made it through to the Lady Taverner’s Final held at Trent Bridge they finished third in the county.

Year 8 Girls Sports Hall Athletics finished in Second place in the Ashfield District Competition.

Year 7 Girls Sports Hall Athletics finished in third place in the Ashfield District Competition.

Byron House

Byron have maintained their strong start to the House Championship this year with wins in the House Rowing and Winter Games and good performances in the Chess and Spelling Bee. A further improvement in attendance and A point totals as well as a strong performance in the upcoming swimming galas will hopefully lead to us overtaking Trent into 1

st place. Come on

guys, I know we can do it!!

Well done to the students listed below who took part in the House Spelling Bee. A particular well done to the Year 8 team who came joint first!

A final well done to the Byron participants in Year 10 and Year 7 Winter Games. Overall, Byron finished 1

st in both events! The Year 10 boys’ basketball, boys’ football and girls’ football teams

won their events with the Year 7s winning the boys’ football and rugby. A second in the girls’ netball and third in the girls’ swimming enabled the Year 7s to win their first winter games!

Well done and keep up the good work guys!!

Mr. Wall

Byron House Co-ordinator

7BY1 7BY2

Sam Hay Bradley Prosser

Shannon Barrett Lacey Jones

Dane Dluzewski Nathan Clake

8BY1 8BY2

Luke Champan Tom Richardson

Brandon Cantrill Alex Spiers

Callum Thorpe Kian Wright

9BY1 9BY2 9BY3

Macauley Gill Lucy Beamish Reece Lafferty

Brandon Hallsworth Lucy Wakefield Harry Flinton

10BY1 10BY2 10BY3

Cory Senyimba Tyler Senyimba Rebecca Fletcher

Rebekah Spence Ben Hadfield Chloe Herring

Chesterfield House

We have had another exciting term including several more inter-house events

including both the Year 7 and Year 10 Winter Games and the Talent Show. Chesterfield was

again well represented in all events and I would like to mention some fantastic performances by

individuals and teams.

In the Year 10 Winter Games both the boys’ rugby team (Reece Wright, Wesley Smith, Jack

Gray, Matthew Moore, Mark Miles, Ben Scothern, Joe Brown and Ben Lee) and the mixed

boccia team (Beth Green, Charlotte Howes, Elise Smith and Belinda Tait) finished top,

triumphing in some close matches.

In the Year 7 Winter Games the Chesterfield girls’ water polo team came in first after battling it

out in the pool. Well done to all involved; Olivia Nosely, Laci Fletcher, Demi Mitchell, Allix

Hughes, Reagan Hurt, Molly Cooper, Holly Butler, Emily Philbin, Kim Barraclough, Madison

Nevin and Kadie Hallam.

A special well done to Millie Hardy, Kiri Barsby and Demi Mitchell for making it through to the

final of the talent show.

In the next few weeks we have both the Year 7 and Year 8/9 Swimming Galas and as last year’s

champions for the latter competition, I am hoping for some more great performances.

Chesterfield are currently trailing in the overall standings (hard to believe, I know!) so we need

to do everything we can to turn that around in the coming months. Come on Chesterfield!!!

Suzanne Guest

(Chesterfield House Co-ordinator)

Thoroton House

It has been a busy term with House Championship events and, once again, Thoroton have excelled themselves in everything they have done. Thanks to outstanding performances from the participants in the Spelling Bee, Thoroton came first and, once again, Francesca Harpham and Sid Chaturbedi were instrumental in us gaining first place. Year 7 had their first Winter Games in March and they really did themselves proud; the boys’ football team didn’t lose a game and narrowly missed out on place through goal difference in the end. I’m looking forward to seeing many more closely fought Winter Games competitions from this year group! Thoroton were once again successful in the Talent Show with 7TH1 entering their whole tutor group. The overall winner on the night was Millie Short with an excellent vocal and guitar performance. As we enter the last term, I hope Thoroton keep up the good work and keep earning those A points as that can make a real difference in earning vital points. Miss Lee Thoroton House Co-ordinator

Hargreaves House

What a great term we have had, Hargreaves! We have had lots of excitement with the Winter Games, Talent Show and the upcoming Swimming Galas. We are creeping our way up the leader board and I know that the House Trophy will be ours in the Summer.

We have done very well in the Winter Games, with full teams in most events. Our football teams in particular really did us proud! Even though the weather was very chilly and it started to rain, all the students remained cheery and showed great Team spirit which, in my eyes, makes us winners!

We had 33 people from Hargreaves audition for the Talent Show, which is fantastic! Every

person who auditioned gained a house point towards the House Trophy. The finalists for the

Talent Show from Hargreaves were:

Layla Allsop 7HA1 who with Kira performed a beautiful Acro Dance to "You Raise Me Up". Will Trigger 9HA1 - Who dazzled us all with his amazing Street Dance to "You Make Me”. Paige Nussey 11HA2 who sung as part of a trio to Adele. She also supported a younger student who forgot her words by joining in on her song which was incredibly thoughtful and kind. Olivia Issartel, Lucy Hart & Georgia Nussey 7HA2 - who could ever forget the hilarious Minions singing "HAPPY“ and bringing a smile to everyone's faces?

There are a lot of very talented students in Hargreaves and I would like to thank everyone for their hard work and commitment this last term.

Mrs Hinett-Barker Hargreaves House Co-ordinator

Trent House

This year’s House Championships are promising to be very successful due to the very strong start by all years in the events so far. Trent are currently overall winners after combining the scores for each individual year and event; this is something which I hope will spur the students on and keep them motivated to stay in top spot. The events which have taken part so far this year are rowing, spelling bee, chess and winter games for all year groups. Trent did particularly well in this year’s spelling bee with the Year 10 participants finishing in 1

st place. I have been extremely impressed with the level of participation

in this year’s Winter Games with nearly full teams for every sport. The dedication and house pride was typified by the Year 7 winter games with every student in Trent participating in a sport which has never happened in my time at Ashfield School. Another pleasing aspect this year is the very high attendance and A points; every time a Trent student walks through the gates of school they gain a point towards the house championships, so with each year group’s attendance being so high, it will certainly contribute a lot to the overall total. Forthcoming events this term include the Year 7,8 & 9 Swimming Gala and this year’s Talent Show, which will also be used to raise money for Sport Relief 2014. I am hoping that the participation levels and enthusiasm continues for the rest of this year and there is the potential for this to be one of the most successful years Trent have seen in a long time. Mr L Greasley Trent House Co-Ordinator

Coates House

I think the tide is changing and the students are now following the lead of our

successful staff team. This time I am able to talk about not coming last in Winter

Games, as both Years 10 and 7 have done incredibly well by coming 2nd in their

Winter Games, losing - in both cases - to Byron. The Year 10’s shone in all

areas, but the netball team and boccia team won their events with boys’

basketball coming 2nd, rugby, girls’ football and basketball coming 3rd.

Unfortunately, I was unable to go out to cheer them on but Mr. Stringer did an

amazing job. The Year 7s were also fantastic, with our teams winning in boccia

and boys’ basketball and our girls’ teams coming no lower than 3rd in all events.

A huge thank you to Mrs. Carver who was out on my behalf, and also to the

other Coates tutors who were also out cheering our teams along.

The Year 7s are showing that they are a force to be

reckoned with. Not only were they successful in Winter

Games, they came joint 1st in the Spelling Bee and I had

over 20 students audition for the Talent Show with Alice

Winsor, Charlotte Brett, Lois Lafon-Anthony and Ben

Morgan all making it through to the show on 14th March.

In the Spelling Bee, Brandon Gregory came 2nd in the

whole of Year 7 with Lois Lafon Anthony being the only

Year 7 left standing in the Year 7/8 competition. We had

another success in the Spelling Bee with Chloe Saxton coming 3rd in the Year 10 competition.

The staff competition is also going very well. For the Spelling Bee, we had 18 members of staff taking

part….compared to about 5 in all of the other Houses. I am proud that so many of the Coates staff gave

up their lunchtime to take part. 6 of them made it through to the final 12 and Mr Atkins and Mrs

Braithwaite were declared joint winners. Due to their performance and the number of staff we had, we

scored 61 points, again coming 1st.

Looking forward to the rest of this term we have Swimming Galas for Years 7, 8 and 9, and also the

Talent Show. However, we do not need to lose sight of the fact that A points and attendance contribute

to the overall score, so all students can continue to make a difference by being here and being amazing.

I am very proud of all the success the Coates

students and staff have achieved and I look

forward to cheering them on.

Go, Coates, Go!

Mrs. F Ball

House Co-ordinator

House Results

Year 10 Winter Games

Attend-ance

A points

Row-ing

Winter Games

Chess Spelling Bee

Talent Show

Total

Byron 2 4 6 6 1 2 1 22

Chesterfield 3 2 4 1 3 1 3 17

Coates 6 6 2 2 2 3 4 25

Hargreaves 1 1 5 5 4 4 6 26

Thoroton 4 3 1 2 5 6 5 26

Trent

5 5

2 4 6 5 2 30

Posi-

tion House

Girls

BB

Girls Net-

ball

Girls

FB

Boys

BB

Boys

Rugby

Boys

FB Boccia Total

1st Byron 2 2 6 6 5 6 4 31

2nd Coates 4 6 4 5 4 1 6 30

3rd Thoroton 4 5 5 4 0 4 4 26

4th Chesterfield 5 0 3 3 6 2 6 25

5th Trent 6 4 1 2 3 3 2 21

6th Hargreaves 1 3 2 1 0 5 1 13

6 points for 1st, 5 = 2nd, 4 = 3rd, 3 = 4th, 2 = 5th, 1 = 6th

House Results

Spelling Bee

Year 7 Results Overall Results

Coates 1st Thoroton 1st

Thoroton 1st Trent 1st

Hargreaves 3rd Hargreaves 3rd

Byron 4th Coates 4th

Trent 5th Byron 5th

Chesterfield 6th Chesterfield 6th

Year 8 Results Staff Results

Trent 1st Coates 1st

Byron 1st Chesterfield 1st

Hargreaves 3rd Thoroton 3rd

Thoroton 4th Byron 4th

Chesterfield 5th Trent 5th

Coates 6th Hargreaves 6th

Year 9 Results

Thoroton 1st

Hargreaves 2nd

Trent 4th

Chesterfield 4th

Byron 5th

Coates 6th

Year 10 Results

Trent 1st

Thoroton 2nd

Coates 3rd

Chesterfield 3rd

Hargreaves 5th

Byron 6th

Parent Governor Vacancies

There are 2 Parent Governor vacancies on the Governing Body and elections will be held at the start of the new Summer Term. If you are interested, then please contact Mr G Wilson, Chair of Governors, or Irene Watson, Clerk to the Governors, on 01623 455000.

Characteristics and Role of School Governors

Governors are people who wish to make a positive contribution to the school and the education of its children. They will contribute to the effective day-to-day running of the school and have an effective input toward the educational achievements of its pupils.

A governing body’s overriding responsibility is to work in partnership with the head teacher to promote continuous improvement in the performance of the school. This involves the establishment of a development plan, the setting of challenging but achievable targets, and the interpretation of information to assess progress and determine appropriate action.

Typically, a governor’s duties will average around 6 hours of spare time each month. Aligned to its improvement role, the governing body is there to be a ‘critical friend’ who can provide the right balance between supporting and challenging the performance of both the head teacher and the school.

Skills and attributes

An external, work-based perspective.

A willingness to challenge assumptions.

A willingness to promote innovation.

A willingness to listen.

A desire to represent and help their community.

An ability to work in a team.

Becoming a Parent Governor

Being a Parent Governor can be stimulating, enjoyable and rewarding. If you have the enthusiasm and desire to become closely involved in the running of the school, then please consider putting yourself forward for one of the current vacancies. Parent Governors are an important component in achieving an effective and well-balanced governing body.

Capital Build Works

I am delighted to inform parents that the major capital build works that we have planned for this year are going ahead according to schedule. The £1.3million extension to ICT and PE is on line to be completed for September 2014. This will comprise 6 ICT suites, 3 PE teaching classrooms and associated offices, work rooms and storage areas. The on-going commitment to refurbishing classrooms in the main block continues with 2 more English rooms been completely refurbished at February half term, a further two at Easter and then the remaining 6 classrooms during the summer holidays. Finally, starting in May we will begin a programme to completely refurbish the existing Languages block and make all the teaching spaces in there suitable for large groups of students. This block will then convert to the Maths teaching block from September and Languages will be relocated to where Maths is in the main block.

All these developments are part of our quest to improve the quality of teaching and learning in the school for the benefit of all our students. Not only will the learning environment be much improved but in the main, most teachers will have their own classrooms, so this should help support the delivery of higher quality teaching and learning.

Richard Vasey, Head Teacher

Along with Year 11 staff, I interviewed all Year 11 students before half term. It was a real pleasure to meet the Year 11 students and discuss where they are at in terms of their studies in Year 11. The students presented themselves in a very favourable manner – they were polite, mature and very courteous. Many students have a good idea of what they want to do at the end of Year 11 and all groups of students praised staff for the amount of support they are giving the students in the lead up to GCSE examinations. Revision session are taking place every night after school and most lunchtimes, there will be sessions during the Easter holidays and I am sure that working together with parents we can ensure that the current Year 11 students will all fulfil their potential and achieve a fantastic set of examination results.

Richard Vasey, Headteacher

Year 11 Interviews

The final INSET day of this academic year will take place on Friday 20 June 2014.

INSET Day