DigestD A M E A L L A N ’ S

A P R I L 2 0 19

Once again we reach the end of another busy term for the Schools.

This half-term has showcased the wealth of talents possessedby the students. Years 3-5excelled themselves in the JuniorSchool Combined Artsperformances of ‘The Sound ofMusic’. My thanks to all of thestaff – teaching and support -whose hard work made thispossible. The Upper Schoolexplored some difficult themesin Timberlake Wertenbaker’sOur Country’s Good, which thestudents handled maturely insome fantastic performances.

Once again it has been a fantasticfew weeks of fundraising by thestudents. From wearing blue andorange to raise awareness forBatten’s Disease to a boisteroussinging competition to raisemoney for the Make a WishFoundation, our students never failto impress me with the imaginativeways in which they support theirchosen charitable causes. Ourwhole school efforts for RedNose Day raised over £1500.

At this year’s Allanian SocietyAnnual Dinner, we celebratedthirty years of Dame Allan’shaving a co-educational SixthForm. It was a fantastic evening of catching up with familiarfaces, and lovely to see ourcurrent Sixth Form mingling with old Allanians.

Soon after we return from theEaster break, Year 11 and Year 13will be heading into study leaveand the exam season; I wishthem luck in their examinationsand hope their hard work isproperly rewarded in the publicexamination season.

A welcome from the PrincipalThe Sound of Music

From filming scenes either ‘onlocation’ or using green-screentechnology to developingchoreography for dances inspired

by each act, Years 3, 4 and 5thoroughly enjoyed creating thisyear’s Combined Artsperformance, The Sound of Music.

We hope you enjoyed the liveperformances in March. Welldone to all of the students andstaff involved!

Our Country’s Good

OLED awards

We enjoyed some outstandingperformances in this year’s UpperSchool production, Our Country'sGood.The play, written by Britishplaywright Timberlake Wertenbaker,was adapted in 1988 from theThomas Keneally novel The

Playmaker. It concerns a group ofRoyal Marines and convicts in a penalcolony in New South Wales in the1780s who put on a production ofThe Recruiting Officer.Well done to the students whotook part in the production, bothon and off stage.

Over 250 people turned out tothe OLED awards night tocelebrate achievements of ourstudents. In total, 222 studentsachieved an award in OutdoorEducation between Sep 2017 and Sep 2018, including 81 Bronze, 113 Silver and six Gold Duke of EdinburghAwards for Cadets and ClimbingClub were also presented.

It was fantastic to take some timeto reflect on skills learnt andrecognise the friendship andmemories made along the way, andwe were delighted to be joined byour guest speaker Ninette Edwardsfrom the NorthumberlandMountain Rescue.Thanks to all those who madedonations for refreshments, wemade £75 for Mountain Rescue.

UnifrogYear 12 Business Studies studentsall took part in this year’s UnifrogEnterprise Activity competition.They worked in teams to createcomprehensive business plans foran idea of their choosing, includingfinancial forecasts and a detailedanalysis of the externalenvironment in which they wouldbe operating.All the teams presented to a panelof expert judges including our veryown Bursar, Mrs McDonald.Competition was tough, but weare delighted to announce that our‘Back to the Future’ team won,beating competitiors from schoolsacross the country.

Ria, Henry, Oliver, Ella, and Jamesworked together to create abusiness plan which aimed tocombat loneliness amongst theelderly, as well as providingvolunteering opportunities foryounger people who would benefitfrom enhancing their employabilityskills – all whilst making a profit!They were commended by theUnifrog judges for the level of‘thought and creativity’ in theirbusiness plan. The winning teamwill share the prize of aMicro:Mega Education Pack - anintroduction to coding and makingwith hardware and electronics.Well done to those involved!

Let’s dance!

Year 2 on the road

Children from Thomas WallingPrimary Academy, StocksfieldAvenue Primary School, andWingrove Primary Schoolenjoyed a dance masterclass withMrs Turnbull this term. The children created a fun dancealong to We Love to Boogie byT.Rex. In just an hour and a half,the students learned lots of newdance moves and even learnedhow to lift another person. Greatfun had by all involved!

JukadanceJukadance was a workshopspecifically for the year 10 and11 GCSE dancers. A specialistcame in to teach and refine theirset phrases that they have toperform for GCSE.ShineYear 3 and 4 Dance Club tookpart in the Shine platform atDance City, where theyperformed to ‘Intergalactic’ bythe Beastie Boys.

PulseBoth Vizavis Dance Companyand Rogue Boys took part inPulse, a regional dance platformto celebrate youth dance in thearea. The boys performed ‘V forVendetta’ which was created bylocal choreographer GeoffHobson; and Vizavis performed‘The Bigness of Knowing’choreographed by Luke Brown.

The pupils in Year 2 have been onsome great trips this half-term.On a visit to the DiscoveryMuseum, the children learnedabout the Great Fire of Newcastle.They looked at Victorianartefacts and all agreed carbolicsoap smells awful! They also

looked at how to sourceinformation to help them retellthe events in a puppet show. Itwas a lot of fun! On their habitatstrip to Northumberland NationalPark and The Sill Visitor Centre,the children spent the morninglooking at pond and woodland

habitats. They had lots of funpond-dipping and even caught atoad! In the afternoon, theyexplored The Sill Visitor Centre,looking at the exhibitions aboutthe local area and wildlife. Thechildren really enjoyed walkingon the grass roof!

Children in the Junior Schoolhave voted overwhelmingly towork towards achieving theirfirst Eco Schools Green Flag, aninternationally recognisedscheme already operating in 67countries worldwide. Following a detailed review ofhow the school is performing inten key areas, such asbiodiversity, energy use and litterhas allowed us to prioritise andstart our journey towards making

the school moreenvironmentally-friendly. A‘Green Team’ withrepresentatives from Receptionto Year 6 have already beguntheir actions. For example, fruitand vegetable waste from theschool kitchen is nowcomposted, with the Gardeningand Ecology Club - Geco Club -taking daily responsibility forcollecting this. Children across the Junior School

are also drinking from their ownwater bottles at lunchtime inorder to reduce the use of plasticcups, while the kitchen staff areinvestigating whether the JuniorSchool could use alternative eco-friendly packaging in thefuture.By the time this newsletter ispublished, they anticipate havingachieved a Bronze award, andare aiming to achieve a Silver bythe end of the summer term.

A taste of The Good Life

Allanian Society

Two assemblies launched thisyear’s National Careers Week atDame Allan’s Schools. ChrisFerry, founder of the charityEating Stones, and civil servantTom Frater returned to school tospeak about their inspirationalcareer paths. We are very proudof their achievements.

The Junior School celebratedCareers Week with ‘A Day in theLife…’ talks from parents invarious careers such as dentistry,medicine and engineering. Year 3had a great time at the BBC. Thepupils loved seeing the studio,meeting some of the staff thereand watching their very ownDame Allan's news story!Junior School head boy Eddiemet pilot Tim Rishworth: “Itreally informed me about howhard you have to keep workingand I now have a much betterunderstanding of the job overall.”

At the Senior School, thestudents enjoyed a mini FuturesFair in the Jenifer Cole roomwith a different career themeeach day. Year 11 Libby said: “Ifound the NHS Careers inMedicine talk very helpful. I gotsome good tips for boosting my

application and picking thecorrect university. It was a greattalk and opportunity.” Year 12student Laiba enjoyed Dr Sharma’s talk: “I reallyenjoyed it because I aminterested in working withchildren. He explained that heloves working with childrenbecause they challenge him andask him things adults wouldn't.He told us that even thoughmedicine is hard work, it pays off.”

Year 11 Emily attended TomFrater’s talk: “Not only did Tomtell us about his interestingcareer, but also about his timestudying history at Cambridge,and the pros and cons of studyingthere. He loves history and saidhistory helps him to puteverything into context.”

In total 48 visitors came to DameAllan’s to inform and inspire ourstudents during National CareersWeek. Specialisms coveredeverything from STEM to digitalmarketing – we even had anastronomer from KielderObservatory! Thank you toeveryone who gave their timeand expertise to make this eventso successful.

Annual DinnerThe Allanian Society Dinner was heldat the end of March, with Allaniansof all ages coming together tocelebrate 30 years of mixed SixthForm. Speeches spanning the 30years included the then Chairmanof Governors and the first Head ofthe joint Sixth Form. It was lovelyto see so many Allanians, and theyreally enjoyed catching up with eachother as well as with some of theirformer teachers. As usual a rafflewas held to support a charity ofthe Principal’s choice. This yearalmost £300 was raised for EatingStones, run by Allanian Chris Ferry.More photos can be found atwww.dameallans.co.uk/Alumni-News

ReunionsPeter Turner (DABS 1959 - 1966) isorganising a reunion at the Schoolson Saturday 12th October 2019for all DABS pupils who joinedForm II in October 1959 (eitherdirectly or via Lower II), and/or leftthe school in July 1966. This coversa number of boys who either joinedin 1959 and left before 1966, or joinedafter 1959, but still left in 1966.1969 ReunionThe following Saturday, 19thOctober the 1969 DABS andDAGS leavers will hold a 50 yearreunion. For more informationon either reunion, please contactthe Development Office onalumnirelations@dameallans.co.uk

National Careers Week

RugbyThe Senior Schools hosted theHeineken Champions Cup andEuropean Rugby Challenge Cuptrophies this half-term. It was agreat opportunity for the boyswho play for the county andNewcastle Falcons age-gradeteams to get up close to thisprestigious silverware. In total 16boys have won representativehonours at these levels, which isthe most we have had in recenttimes in one season. Huge congratulations to the U13'swho won the County 7’s cup thishalf-term with a very convincing30-5 win against Ponteland – afantastic end to a very successfulseason! Well done to all of theteam, particularly Dan who tookMan of the Tournament for hisexcellent attacking and defending.

Well playedindeed, gentlemen!

RowingWell done toJamie, Mariella,James, and Isabellawho qualified forthe RegionalIndoor Rowingcompetition in

March. Congratulations to Jamie,who won Gold, and will berepresenting the region at theNational competition inPeterborough later this month.

SquashIt has been a great season for ourSquash teams and individuals.Congratulations to the KS3 Girls'

team, who were crownedwinners of the Plate competitionat the National Finals. The KS4Girls’ and KS5 Boys’ teams alsodid well in the National SchoolsChampionships, reaching the finaland semi-final respectively. Congratulations to Sixth Formstudent Max who has beenselected to play for England inthe U19 European Individual and TeamSquash event inApril and to play forEngland in the U19World Individualevent in July.

Cross Country We had twostudents competingfor Northumberlandat the Year 7National School Cross CountryChampionships which took place at Prestwold Hall inLeicestershire. Marina placed81st out of a field of 153. She was the 6th placedNorthumberland athlete, and herteam were 7th out of 17 overall.Will placed 19th out of 184. Hewas the first athlete home for

Northumberland and his teamwere 9th out of 20 overall. A great achievement for both,well done!

HockeyWe are immensely proud of theYear 9 leaders, who have umpiredat a series of quicksticks matchesrecently, including the Year 3 and 4 county finals.

NetballThe Year 9 netball team camerunners up in the City TrophyTournament. Well done, girls!

CongratulationsYear 12 student Dan won theU17 Boys Individual Grand Prixrunning event for the North EastHarrier League, a hugeachievement!

RugbyYear 6 rugby 7’s have attended anumber of tournaments this half-term. The boys performed reallywell against NSB, working hardas a defensive unit. This preparedthem for the HMC tournament,where they were put under a lotof pressure. It was great for theboys to be tested in this way andit gave them clear goals tocontinue to develop.

FootballFour wins and a draw saw theU11 football squad take part in a‘winner takes all’ final match at theISFA Regional qualifiers. The teamput in an excellent performanceagainst Hymers, just narrowlymissing out on the top spot. Well done to our ‘B’ squad who

finished a very creditable secondplace at the prestigious HMCtournament, both our ‘A’ and ‘B’teams excelled in their group games– winning all six matches with agoal difference of +22! We areenormously proud of the sevenbrave volunteers who stepped upto take part in the dreaded penaltyshoot-out in the final againstBarnard Castle at the annual Bowtournament in Durham.Year 5 took part in a triangularfestival of football and rugbyagainst RGS and Hymers College.This was a fantastic opportunityfor the boys to represent theschool – which they did withgreat pride and to great effect.The teams were evenly matchedwith a spread of victories, draws

and defeats across the twodisciplines and across all four teams.

HockeyThere has been hugeimprovement in hockey over theyear for both the girls and boys.A huge well done and thank youto everyone who has representedthe school. It is great to see theboys making a lot of progress in asport that most of them havepreviously had little exposure.

NetballThe netball teams have been outin full force this term competingin a variety of tournaments. Welldone to Year 6, who travelled toHull to compete in the HMCnetball tournament against verystrong opposition and challenging

conditions. Year 5 haveprogressed a huge amount during competitive fixtures,honing their skills in defence andattack. Year 4 performedbrilliantly as a group during a groupfixture against RGS this week.

SwimmingThis half-term has seen the schoolswimming galas take place. In thegala children take part in a rangeof races using surf boards, floats,noodles, rubber ducks and strokerelays. Regardless of the level ofswimming ability they all tookpart together to reach the endgoal. Their determinationreminds us that the strongestaren’t always the ones that winthe races, but the people whodon’t give up!

Junior Sports round-up

Senior Sports round-up

The winners of the Lit and PhilSociety creative writingcompetition were announced onWednesday 13th March, with theprize presented by children'sauthor David Almond. Approximately 130 studentstook part from schools acrossthe Newcastle area, and we’re

proud to say Anna won theFiction prize for Year 7-9and Sophie was runner up innon-fiction Year 7-9. Overall, eight Dame Allan'sstudents were awarded a year'smembership of the Lit and Phillibrary for their creative entries.Well done, everyone!

b u i l d i n g t h e f u t u r eDA M E A L L A N ’ S S C H O O L S

Monday 8 – Tuesday 23 AprilEaster holidaysWednesday 24 AprilSchool resumes Tuesday 23 – Friday 26 AprilLAMDA examsFriday 26 AprilSpring Concert, 7pm at St James’ and St Basil’s ChurchTuesday 30 AprilJunior Maths Challenge

Friday 3 MayA Level Drama practical exam Monday 6 MayMay Day Bank Holiday Tuesday 7 May2nd HPV vaccinations for Year 8 DAGSFriday 10 MayYear 8 DAGS Food, Feast and Famine DaySunday 12 – Tuesday 14 May Duke of Edinburgh Silver/Gold practiceexpedition

Monday 13 – Friday 17 MayYear 5 Residential Trip Tuesday 14 MayLeavers’ Evening, 5:45pm Friday 17 MayMusic Recital, Lumsden Music Centre, 1pmFriday 17 May Choral Evensong at St James’ and St Basil’s, 5pmFriday 17 May Year 8 DABS Food, Feast and Famine Day

Saturday 18 MayDASPA Junior Summer Fair, 12 noon - 2pmSaturday 18 – Sunday 19 MayYear 9 Bronze D of E QualifyingExpedition

Tuesday 21 MayYear 9 Land and Building SurveyingDayMonday 27 – Friday 31 MayHalf-term holiday

t: 0191 275 1500 e: news@dameallans.co.uk www.dameallans.co.uk

Creative writers

Musicto ourears

Looking to the future...

DASPAOur recent Ceilidh family eventhas once again proven to be verypopular. Over 100 attendeesenjoyed an evening ofentertainment by our Ceilidhband and guest performers fromQueen Elizabeth School,Hexham. This was a socialevening packed with great music,barn-dancing, refreshments andbottle tombola, and raised £251.

DASPA would like to extend aheartfelt thank you to the musicdepartment for their continuedsupport of all our events.

We look forward to the JuniorSchool Summer Fair, and wehope to see you there.

DASPA JuniorWe are busy preparing for the annualSummer Fair which will be held atthe Junior School on Saturday 18May, 12 noon-2pm. Many thanks toall the staff, parents and studentswho enable this to happen each year.It is always a fun event that brings theDame Allan's community togetherwith food, games, tombola, and araffle.

Please note: this year our second-hand uniform sale includes uniformfor both the Junior and SeniorSchools.

We are currently collecting raffleprizes and will also be collectingtombola prizes and toys after Easter.We would be grateful for anydonations. If you are available to helpon the day or have any raffle prizes,please contact Vanessa onvmorrell@contactbabel.com

Before the fair we will be hosting anEaster Party for Years 1 and 2 andproviding the prizes for thedecorated egg competition.

Safeguarding at Dame Allan’sTake some time during the Easter holidays to chat toyour child about their understanding of personalsafety both online and when they are out and about as the days grow longer. Check privacy settingson all devices and as they start to become more

independent make sure your child knows how tocontact you if they are unable to use their mobilephone. Keep revisiting the topic of social media and be aware of the ways in which your childcommunicates with others.

Congratulations to Year 9 studentAlex, who recently won severalawards at the Ryton Music Festival.She won U16 woodwind awardand the duet category for openclass performing a cello duet withher mum. She also came second inthe U16 string category.