College News TAG Sports Day

Inside... Summer 2013

Leap intoSummer!

Trips Arts Events

Welcome to our final Newsletter of the year.I’m sure you will agree that it has been a very busy one with lots of successes! There has been a tremendous amount of intervention and support provided to help our students prepare for their summer exams but also a wide range of additional enrichment opportunities both in and out of school for our students.

UniformUnfortunately we have had a small minority of students who have chosen to wear inappropriate clothes for school this year that do not comply with our School Uniform Policy; this needs to be improved for next year. Our Year 10 students recently came to school smartly dressed for their mock interviews and what a difference it made regarding first impressions by the interviewers, their attitude and mindset when in the interview, and it also positively supported the way they presented themselves throughout the interview. Feedback from interviewers was very positive about how students presented themselves as young adults who wanted to be taken seriously. We need to instil this attitude in all of our students so that they come to school with the right mindset for learning. Can I therefore take this opportunity to ask for parental support in making sure that your child attends school in full uniform in line with whole school policy. Below is a reminder of what isn’t acceptable for school so that when students return in September they are appropriately dressed and do not run the risk of being sent home to change.

The following are NOT permitted for school:• black denim jeans/cotton drill trousers/leggings or Jeggings• leather/denim jackets/gilets• canvas shoes including ‘Vans’• boots/UGG boots• hoodies (zip fronted or pull on)• jewellery, other than one pair of small studs and a watch• nail varnish or henna tattoos• extreme hair colour/styles• short skirts (if shorts are needed under the skirt then the skirt is too short!)• shorts under skirts• patterned tights

I would recommend that you refer to the school website where we have a full list of what is correct uniform and pictures to help illustrate what is acceptable and what isn’t. I am keen to avoid parents spending money on uniform that is not acceptable for school so please refer to our guidance to help you.

As we come to the end of another year we need to say goodbye to a number of colleagues who are leaving us:

Dr Raffell, Mrs Woodward, Ms Lee-Baker and Mr Lawson are retiring. A number of staff are moving onto promotions, relocating or moving to other schools, they include: Mr Allen, Mr Cosby, Mrs Doughty, Miss Fulcher, Mr Harris , Mrs Jardine, Mrs Jenkins, Miss Malle , Miss Morrison, Mrs O’Hanlon, Mrs O’Reilly, Mrs Williams, Mrs Wright.

I would like to say a big thank you on behalf of the staff and students at NLS for the contributions that they have made to the school and to wish them all well for the future.

We also have a number of new staff who I would like to welcome to NLS; they will be joining us in September:

Mrs Ambroziak – Science, Miss Beardell – History, Mrs Bythell – English, Miss Crossley – Maths, Miss Hogg – English, Mr Hoskins – Assistant Headteacher, responsible for the Language Faculty and Subject Leader English, Mr Lowe – Subject Leader Media and Film, Miss Maskell – Science, Miss Miles – English, Mrs Morris – Food Technology/Textiles, Mr Moss – 2nd in charge English, Mr Royle – Assistant Headteacher, Binswood College and Science, Miss Stermey – Maths, Mr Summers – Science, Mr Tyler – Maths, and Mr Bal – ICT.

Punctuality (Important Notice)We are changing our school day in September and all students will be arriving in the mornings and going straight to Lesson 1. It is crucial that they are in school in plenty of time to arrive at their first lesson as being late to lessons will mean lost learning!Students are expected to be in school by 8.30am and moving to lessons. The school gates will be closing promptly at 8.40am and any late arrivals will only have access via the front gates. Any student arriving late will be met by a member of staff who will record their late arrival and reason why. Anyone late to school will be expected to catch up the lost time in late detention on a Friday each week. Persistent lateness may result in a referral to the Attendance, Compliance and Enforcement (ACE) Service.

Mobile Phones and Headphones:Mobile phones are currently allowed into school but should be switched off for all lessons (unless the teacher has planned to use them to support learning). Any phone used during a lesson disrupts teaching and learning and will therefore be confiscated and parents will be expected to come into school to collect it. Students can listen to their music at social times (when in designated areas but not on corridors or while walking around the school buildings). Students are NOT allowed to take photographs or videos of anyone in school. There will be consequences if this happens during the school day.I appreciate the need for mobiles when your child is travelling to and from school but there is no need for them to be making calls during the school day. If parents need to be contacted, or need to contact their child, can I please ask that the school landline is used to communicate. If students abuse the use of their mobile phone in school they will not be allowed to bring it to school.I’m sure you will appreciate the need for your child to be taught how to use their mobile phone safely and appropriately so that they do not put themselves or others at risk.

Dates for the Diary Exam result days:Thursday 15th August - GCE Results – Year 13 - 9.30am, Year 12 - 10.00am Thursday 22nd August - GCSE Results – Year 11 - 10.00am (Year 10 Science Results – 10.30am)

First day back for students is Tuesday 3rd September – lessons start promptly at 8.45am

Reminder of new school day times:

8.30 Students to be in school8.40 Movement time8.45 - 9.45 Lesson 19.45 - 10.45 Lesson 210.45 - 11.05 Break11.05 - 11.10 Movement time11.10 - 12.10 Lesson 312.10 - 1.10 Lesson 41.10 - 1.55 Lunch1.55 - 2.00 Movement time2.00 - 2.25 VT Time2.25 - 3.25 Lesson 5

School will be closed to students on the following Training days next year:Friday 30th August 2013, Monday 2nd September 2013, Friday 29th November 2013, Monday 6th January 2014, andFriday 11th April 2014

Can I finish by thanking all staff and parents for their support this year and wish everyone a great summer.

Joy MitchellHeadteacher

Transition Day This year’s Transition Day for our new Year 7 students took place on Wednesday 26th June. Two hundred and twenty Year 6 students from thirty

one schools arrived for an extremely successful day; which included experiencing taster lessons, meeting their new Teaching and VT groups, and general familiarisation with their new school. Transition Leaders from our current Year 7 have been instrumental in the process so far and will continue in a supporting role for our new students in September. Further transition events are taking place during the next eight weeks to ensure all pupils are ready for North Leamington School in September.

In the last few weeks many students have been involved in planting up the vegetable beds in the school allotment. We now have a range of vegetable and herbs growing well, ready to be harvested at the end of the summer. The produce will be used in Food Technology lessons to supplement students’ own ingredients. There is a well established rota for weeding and watering and MR03 and PK05 have been particularly helpful in this task. The fruit trees have been pruned and are beginning to bear fruit.

Eco News

Change and transformation is what our 12 Forest School students have been seeing on their weekly visits to woods near Stoneleigh village led by Seb and Jeff. Whatever the weather they have been challenged to develop their skills and grow in confidence as they have been taught how to safely use various tools to make woodcraft items, light fires, build shelters, be creative and explore the natural surroundings. This opportunity also has allowed them to be reflective about themselves, their feelings and an understanding of their environment.

Summer Forest

The countryside around Aberystwyth provides an excellent opportunity to study a large number of ecosystems. We visited woodland, stream, rocky shore and sand dune ecosystems. During the 3 days students were introduced to methods of data collection, sampling techniques and ways of presenting and analysing data. These are all important aspects of A2 Biology. All the sixth formers were excellent throughout, they were keen to learn, stoical in the face of clouds of midges, and loved the taste of university life we experienced while staying in the student accommodation and using the laboratories.

A2 Biology Trip

German Exchange “I think the German Exchange will be beneficial for the future because we are learning about a different culture and our

confidence with speaking is improving. Our German has already improved by having our partners here in Leamington, which was great fun. We had a lovely sunny day all together at Warwick Castle and they discovered more about England by visiting the BCSM and Stratford, as well as London. I am really looking forward to visiting my partner in Germany because I will experience how German families live and find out if their school is different to NLS. Going on the German Exchange is a great opportunity to improve our German skills, but also will develop our independence and confidence, as we will be staying with a new family in a country many of us have never visited before. We are excited about experiencing life in Germany and using our German to talk to pupils and parents.” Toby Loveday and Ben Darnell

AGA Rangemaster PartnershipDue to the success of our partnership with AGA Rangemaster, our Sixth Form Business students were given the opportunity to join other partnerships in a CBI exhibition. The networking event and exhibition was held at the Botanical Gardens Birmingham. Since September the Year 13 Double Award Business students have been participating in the CBI ‘Business in the Classroom’ challenge. The initiative is aimed at promoting partnerships between businesses and schools in order to inspire young people into business, increase their knowledge of the workplace and improve their employability skills.

“The pupils from North Leamington were well received by all those who came into contact with them. The project and subsequent meetings with production managers provided pupils with an invaluable experience in the work environment, with the chance to gain a better understanding of real-world issues affecting modern manufacturing whilst supporting school curriculum” William McGrath, CEO Aga Rangemaster

The project has certainly improved the students’ employability and developed team-working skills, building on their theoretical foundation of knowledge.

Maths Week The penultimate week of term saw another fun-filled Maths Week at NLS with a range of activities for all to enjoy. As our introductory event on the Monday we

were lucky enough to receive a visit from Andrew Jeffrey, world famous Mathemagician. Andrew performed his Magic of Maths show to all Key Stage 3 students, which was thoroughly enjoyable and has created a lot of discussion around school. Students were amazed as Andrew changed plain paper into £5 notes, read people’s minds and performed a series of other number tricks. The fun continued with the Year 8s completing a CSI style challenge and the Year 9 Maths Fair. Here the students investigated a mathematical based problem of their choice such as ‘How many jelly beans will fit inside a classroom?’, ‘How many helium balloons are needed to lift a truck?’ and even ‘How many penguins are needed to take over the world!?’ The best ideas were chosen to be presented in front of their peers and our panel of sixth formers, staff and governors with the winners in each year half receiving a retro sweet hamper.

The week ended with the Year 7 Maths Bee, which was another real highlight of the week and after a close run competition Blackdown became the 2012-13 champions!

BinswoodSeptember sees another exciting change in the leadership of the College. Mr Royle will be the Binswood College Leader from September 2013 and actually started at North Leamington School this term to ensure a smooth transition. “First and foremost I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to those parents or carers that I have not had the pleasure of meeting. I am Mr Royle and I am thrilled to be your child’s College Leader. With this role comes huge responsibility and I feel as College Leader of Binswood it is my job to ensure that all pupils achieve their potential and more importantly enjoy coming to school. My fantastic Learning Mentors and I will continue to provide the support and guidance your child will need in order to have a successful time at North Leamington School.” Mr C Royle

As exiting College Leader I would like to thank all the students and parents/carers of Binswood College for a wonderful year. I feel very fortunate to have led the college through another exciting year and am very proud of all the progress we have made together. I am confident Mr Royle will continue to push Binswood students to be the best and am certain that it is in good hands.

New College Leader - Mr Royle

Binswood Student LeadersNew Student Leaders have applied, been interviewed and appointed for 2013-14. Well done to all.

Spring Term CelebrationOur end of term celebration assembly was another really positive experience. We welcomed our Chair of Governors, Sarah Boad to our assembly and she handed a huge number of awards to Binswood students including the top male and female student in each year for:

AttainmentDexter, Adam, Lee, Mattie, Jessica, Emily, Rachael and Daisy

AchievementAlex, Joel, Marco, Matt, Bailey, Emily, Georgia and Stacey

Attitude to LearningAdam, Joseph, Mitchell, Mattie, Sarah, Emily, Abigail and Daisy

Mr Heath

Sports Day ResultsYear 7: 2nd (156 points)Year 8: 2nd (167 points) Year 9: 3rd (168 points)

Year 10: 4th (126 points)Overall: 4th (617 points)

A glorious day (for once) where competition was fierce but fair and the Binswood students represented their college with pride. Good signs for the future!

Captain: Keris Jones & Billy PettifferVice Captain: Evie LambertPublic Relations: Simone Hardy & Mitchell ChambersEco: Jessica Richardson

Sports: Evie Lambert & Bailey WongInternational: Aimie Williams & Dan PeacockCharity: Georgia Harris & Ed VealSOS: Annabelle Williams & Tom Hooper

BlackdownJames Reade, BD3 in Year 7 was one of Black-down’s Award winners last term, and was lucky enough to be presented with the Halfords Bike as the competition winner!

Halfords Winner

Estelle Atkin-Palmer, BD8 in Year 8 represented RLS Elite Club (for Team UK) in the European Cheerlead-ing Championships held in Rimini, Italy, this July. Her team narrowly missed out on the winning position and so were crowned as Silver Medallists in the Junior B category.

Let’s Go Estelle Let’s Go!

George has been starring as young Lucius in a professional Shakespeare production of Titus Andronicus at the RSC, and it is his third production with the Company. The Blackdown College student, who also stars as Ruairi Donovan in The Archers on Radio 4, is acting in 39 performances during the six-month-long run of the play, which is on at the RSC Theatre in Stratford. George, who came across the opportunity to audition for the part through his involvement with Warwick’s Playbox Theatre, also acted in the RSC’s Richard III in 2011 and The Merry Wives of Windsor last year - and this year’s role requires him to be on stage for the whole of the play’s second half. George is hoping to get a place at the Birmingham Ormiston Academy for the Performing Arts next year and he has sent off an audition video to act in a new Paddington Bear film, to be released in 2014.

Titus An-George-icus

Spring Term CelebrationAttainmentYear 7: Jonathan & BethYear 8: Daniel & HarpreetYear 9: Rajpal & IonaYear 10: Will & Emily

AchievementYear 7: Oliver & MeganYear 8: Daniel & CourtneyYear 9: Conor & SianYear 10: Alex & Bethany

Attitude to LearningYear 7: Ewan & HollyYear 8: Daniel & HarpreetYear 9: William & IonaYear 10: Adam & Emily

Mrs McBride

New Blackdown Student LeadersCollege Captains: Holly Pritchard & Henry LayVice Captains: Emily Forman Jessop & Joe HarrisPR Leaders: Vinitaraj Aulak & Conor McClenaghanCommunity Leaders: Olivia Hunt & Iona ShearerCharity Leaders: Bethany Richardson & Will HubbardSports Leaders: Sam Wadsworth, Jess Nash, Kyra Johnson & Jenny ChapmanInternational Leader: Georgina Aris

Croft Spring Celebration AwardsAttainment Award WinnersStudents who achieved the very highest levels or grades.

Ellie CT4, Joseph CT8, Toby CT1, Lucy CT8, Patrick CT8, Martha CT6, Ellie CT2, Patrick CT6, Toby CT8, Pearl CT6

Attainment Award WinnersStudents who made the most progress against their target levels/grades.

Chris CT1, Alex CT3, Callum CT7, Dianne CT9, Ella CT8, Mia CT8, Jennifer CT8, Luca CT4, Lovarij CT5, Olivia CT5

ATL Award WinnersStudents who have the best attitude to their learning.

Patrick CT8, Toby CT1, Harvey CT3, Lucy CT8, Tamsin CT5, Martha CT6, Laurence CT4, Molly CT5, Dhillan CT7, Olivia CT5

College Commendation AwardsAwarded for leadership skills and commitment to the wider school.

Seb CT6, Laviea CT7, Jennifer CT8, Charlie CT9, Ross CT9, Abi CT1, Beth CT2, Holly CT3, Ellie CT4, Katie CT5

Contribution to the School AwardsStudents who have made the biggest contribution to the College and school.

Stefan CT2, George CT2, George CT6, Charlie CT1, Jordan CT3, Patrick CT8

College Leader AwardStudents who have made the biggest contribution to the College.

The College Council Students LeadersTamsin CT5, Amy CT4, Chloe CT7

ManorThis term started with a celebration event to congratulate the college for raising over £270 for LEPRA, a charity which spearheads the fight against leprosy. Some energetic dancers came in and led the college in a street dance session in the sports hall, which was enjoyed by the more exuberant amongst us!

The VT curriculum for the first half term was all about leadership, kicking off with a debate about the death penalty. Students had predictably strong views about this. There was a range of activities designed to help students develop their leadership skills, and at the end, each VT group had the task of designing a sports activity which they would then teach to, and play with, another VT group. The whole college congregated in the sports hall for this, and it was great to see what the

students would do when their Learning Mentors stepped back and left them to lead.

After half term, the VT curriculum has focussed on Enterprise. The first task was to try to create a logo for our new rewards scheme. Attention soon turned to planningthe summer fair, which will be

held on the last day of term. This year’s charity will be Macmillan, with each group linking their activity to their college’s link country, which in the case of Manor, is Russia.

The progress of students in their attainment and attitude to learning has really been something to celebrate this year. Both have been consistently on the rise, with tremendously positive response to intervention where needed. The Learning Mentor team have done a superb job in keeping the students on track, giving them timely advice as appropriate. Sadly, we are saying farewell to several members of the Manor team, notably Ms Tompkins, Mrs Doughty, Mrs Bottrill and Mr Allen. We wish them well in their new positions, be they at NLS or elsewhere.

Mrs Morey

Student Profile: Jay-J CT9, Year 8British Kick Boxing Champion, and team GB representative in the World Association of Kickboxing Organisations European Championships 2013.

Jay-J started studying Martial Arts at a very young age, and was 5 years old when he began attending Shotokan-Karate, a small local karate school. Over the next 5 years Jay-J went from a White Belt beginner to Brown-White Belt advanced student. During this period he participated in various Karate tournaments across the Midlands, often winning or coming second place. At the age of 10 years Jay-J chose to train in another form of Martial Arts, Kickboxing, whilst continuing his Shotokan-Karate. Jay-J moved to a larger Martial Arts academy, Dev Barrats Dojo, Coventry.

At 11 years of age Jay-J was awarded the grade of Shotokan-Karate, Black Belt, giving him his ‘1st Dan’ status, a major achievement at such a young age. Two years on Jay-J has advanced further, and will soon be completing his examination to attain his ‘2nd Dan’ status with the British Combat Karate Association. Jay-J has achieved huge recognition from the World Association of Kickboxing Organisations, WAKO GB, by beating other contestants in a Kickboxing tournament last February. This has given him the title of U16, under 42kg British Champion, and the opportunity to compete for the WAKO GB team.

Jay-J attended lengthy trials and on July 7th 2013 was awarded a place in the WAKO GB team to represent Great Britain in Poland on September 14th to the 22nd 2013 European Championships. Jay-J’s continuous hard work, commitment and determination to succeed, has paid off.

Croft College and North Leamington School are immensely proud of his achievements.

Inter-College Competitions & Sports Day

Rounders inter-college competition: 1st place CroftCroft vs Teachers competition: Winners = Croft.Soft ball inter-college competition: 2nd place Croft

A huge ‘well done’ to all the competitors, and to the wider college who cheered Croft Cobras. The team spirit was ‘EPIC’. Whatever the outcome there is no doubt that everyone pulling together to make sure that we were represented in every event, and shouting at the tops of their voices to spur on Croft competitors to dig even deeper, made Croft staff incredibly proud.

Have a lovely break from all the students and staff in Croft!

Park Never mind having Roots and Wings, I find it hard to believe that another year has come to an end, time has flown by!

Mr Swan

During this busy time, new Student Leaders have been appointed, with many very high quality applications. The new team comprises:

Captain: Lewis MR4 & Fionn MR3Vice Captain: AJ MR1 & Charlotte MR3Sports: Lewis MR4, Charlotte MR3, Ellie MR2, Gemma MR4 & Molly MR6Charity: Fionn MR3, Jenny MR6 & Darcie MR1

International: Olivia MR9Community: AJ MR1PR: James MR2Eco: Adam MR3 & Jessie MR6SOS: Sinead MR2 & Charlotte MR5

Mrs Kavanagh

This term we said goodbye to the Year 11s, wishing them luck in the exams and their futures. Park College students looked smart and elegant at the Leavers’ Prom. It deserves a special mention that one of the students pulled out of the Leavers’ Day and the Prom because of an important engagement. Megan McDonald who was the College Captain was selected to represent Great Britain in a triathlon event in Holland. This young lady is certainly someone to keep an eye on in the future.

Captain: Nisar KhanVice Captain: Hannah GalloonEco Leader: Kieran ChahalSports Leader: Nathan BatchelorInternational Leader: Hazeem Arif

Community Leader: Tom HarveyCharity Leader: Becky O’ConnellPR/Recruitment Leader: Robyn TennantDeputy Sports Leader: Kyle Joyce

I‘d like to thank the Student Leaders for the work they have developed throughout the year. Applications and interviews have been held for the leader positions for the next academic year.

The new Year 7s visited the school and their VT groups and have been supported by a new group of students called Transition Leaders; for Park we have Emily Blackford, Charlotte Bolt, Suria Mahay, Meagan Rudd and Beth Williams.

Our Student Support Team has two new members, Elena Harvey and Andrew Jarrett.

This term we have held 3 inter-college competitions during lunchtimes and it is pleasing to announce that for the second year running we are Softball champions. In Rounders and Ultimate Frisbee we need extra training as we did

not do so well!

The College has been involved heavily in the Community Litter Pick-up and the Meet, Greet and Eat for the elderly. I am passionate about the sense of community within and outside school so have been extremely proud of Park student involvement.

The following students have been awarded certificates for their academic achievement throughout the year: Ellie Copeland, Alex Fryer, Laura Woolerton, James Sainsbury, Hayley Waldron, Alex Wilding, Frances Lammyman, and Nisar Khan

Best ATL scores for the first half of the Summer Term were produced from: Hannah Galloon, Nisar Khan, Jeevan Sanghera, Hazeem Arif, Alisha Fryer, Liam Collier, Emily Blackford and Sam Hall.

As the term comes to an end I’d like to thank the staff, students and parents/carers for their commitment and support to the school and especially to Park College. Have a great summer holiday and I’ll see you all in September when the journey continues.

Year 11 Prom

Sixth FormIn many ways it’s been a term of two halves for our Year 12s. The first one was dominated by exam preparation and exams and the second one with focusing on their future plans. They have returned to school in a positive frame of mind and have begun the next phase of their studies. The exams for our Year 13 students went on a lot longer! We had a very enjoyable leavers’ assembly with them on 24th May and then marked their leaving in a more formal sense at the prom on 28th June. We look forward to seeing the students on results day to celebrate their successes. Thanks to all the staff for providing so many opportunities for the students this year and to parents and students for working alongside us in the pursuit of success. Enjoy a great summer!

Summer SchoolsEmma Jones - Year 12 I had the pleasure of being invited to a Women in Science Day at Oxford University. Jesus College offered places to approximately 40 female students from across the country. We were given the chance to attend taster sessions on four science courses. This gave a fantastic insight into what University life is like and what a career in science is really like for women. It was also amazing to spend the day with people with similar interests, aspirations and be taught by world-class lecturers.

Rosa Spence - Year 12 I have been given the privilege of attending an Oxford University Residential Summer School which offers students the opportunity to study a course of their choice. I am really looking forward to my time in Oxford as I will be able to experience what it will be like to study Geography at a higher level and broaden my knowledge of the subject beyond what is expected at A Level. I am also looking forward to developing and gaining new skills as well as meeting like-minded people who share the same interests.

Super Learning DaysThe Sixth Form took part in two Super Learning Days exploring the Pathways open to them after school. They attended talks given by Warwick, Coventry and Cambridge Universities and also talks given by motivational speakers from the world of retail, construction and engineering. Sixth Form staff conducted sessions on psychometric testing, the UCAS application process, team building and interview techniques.

EPQ All Year 12 Students have begun their Extended Project Qualification this term, with some exciting proposals already emerging. This is a brilliant opportunity

for Sixth Form students to stand out from the crowd in their future career journey, both in applying to university or into a future world of work. With the chance to pursue a topic they feel a genuine interest and passion for, they also develop highly regarded skills in research and project management.

Results & EnrolmentAS students will enrol onto A2 Level courses on A Level results day, 15th August 2013, between 10am-1pm. GCSE enrolment day is being held 22nd August 10am-2pm.

Football News Well done —Sam Harris, Ciaran Houston and James Harrison on being selected for the ESFA summer school being held at Repton School in August. This gives them the chance of being

selected for full representative honours in the autumn term which could lead to England school boys.

Year 12/13 football team have had a number of successes this year. They reached the last 32 of the English Schools’ Football Competition narrowly losing on penalties after a 2-2 score after extra time against Sandwell Academy, West Bromwich. They followed up the disappointment of being knocked out by winning the District 7-a-side tournament and beat Aylesford 3 – 0 in the District Cup Final.

Squad - Charlie Bush, Sam Harris, Jonny Timms, Sundeep Khalsi, Spencer Bradley, Ciaran Houston, Pepe Fernandez, Macaulay Manton, Callum Bell, Dave Dealtry, Scott Smith, Ollie Hawkins, Craig Bell, Jake Ross, Luke Hutton and James Harrison.

A-Level RecitalThe evening was preparation for the A-Level practical exam and gave the students the experience of performing their work to a high standard. They learnt about performing in the space, performance skills, stamina, commitment and the energy required to achieve all of their performances.

Rock & PopWe were delighted to welcome back the Rock School to NLS to work with our KS3 students in the Spring Term. Students had an opportunity to work as part of a rock band on guitars, drums and keyboards, learning a piece of music as an ensemble. Several students have gone on to start instrumental lessons on these instruments and some have even joined the rock school which takes place in Warwick each week. The workshop also inspired our new Year 9 scheme of work where students have been learning instruments and songs through playing as a whole class ensemble.

Year 8 Shakespeare FestivalYear 8 students had the opportunity to work together in their teaching groups as an ensemble to perform a version of one of William Shakespeare’s plays – Macbeth, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet or A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This was performed during the morning (8N, 8O, 8R, 8T) and afternoon (8L, 8E, 8A, 8M) on Thursday 27th June. Awards were given for the Best Group and Runners Up and individual students were given awards for Best Performer, Most Promising Performer and Overall Contribution.

Y8 Shakespeare Festival (Morning)Best Group – 8O MacbethRunner Up Group – 8R A Midsummer Night’s Dream Y8 Shakespeare Festival (Afternoon)Best Group – 8A MacbethRunner Up Group – 8M A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Highly Sprung WorkshopWednesday 19th June & Friday 21st June – NLS Drama students from Years 8-12 worked with a Highly Sprung Director to devise and create a performance based on ‘The Terrible Life of Barnaby Brockett’ by John Boyne. The result was both positive and inspirational, providing the students with the ability to create innovative and challenging work.

Wednesday 3rd July - Students performed part of their Physical Fellowship performance at the annual NLS Arts Recital on Wednesday 3rd July at 7pm in the Theatre.

Monday 15th July – Students spent a full day at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, where they were involved in all day workshops with Highly Sprung, Infuse Dance, Theatre Absolute and Volcano Theatre Company

Wednesday 17th July – The group performed the Physical Fellowship performance to a public audience at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, in conjunction with other local secondary schools and Highly Sprung Performance Company.

Cluster Orchestra17 NLS instrumentalists took part in the first ever North Leamington Schools’ Cluster Orchestra at Cubbington Primary School on Friday 1st March. The aim was to put together 3 pieces of music ready for an informal performance at the end of the workshop. NLS students were distributed around the entire orchestra to lend support to the primary pupils and cover the various parts needed. The session was a huge success and the performances were fluent and well received by the audience of parents, Cubbington pupils and staff. We are hoping to repeat the event in the summer term and hopefully more students will want to take part.

NLS Cinema It’s come to the end of another busy year for NLS Cinema, which was marked by a party thrown for all the student volunteers. Students enjoyed the sun, had a barbecue and got competitive in a huge inflatable laser quest maze - a great way to end after all the hard work that has been put in over the past year!

On Tuesday 16th July the cinema hosted a charity event with school governor David Gorvett, raising awareness for the Motor Neurone Disease Association in the global screening of ‘I Am Breathing’, a bittersweet film about MND sufferer Neil Platt. All the proceeds of the evening were given to the Association as a donation.

The cinema is coming back in style in the new year, with the launch of new teenage nights as well as the already popular family showings. Watch this space!

Life ExperienceOn Tuesday 9th July it was our last ‘Life Experience’ event. It was held at Brookhurst Primary School where a ‘Seaside Spectacular’ took place. These events have been running since February this year. Our students have developed some brilliant social skills, improved their communication abilities, worked in teams, supported other students and gained in confidence and most of all had fun! Mrs Mitchell was one of the judges of the sandcastle competition. Parents and Carers were invited along to see the children get a certificate and a stick of rock for all the hard work they have done.

Duty, Punishment or Community Spirit?On Tuesday 21st May a group of students from North Leamington School volunteered to take part in a community litter pick in local parks. Mike Swan, Community Leader, explained that the aim of the clean up was to continue to develop positive relationships and attitudes between the school and the local community. While the students cleaned up the park there were some interesting comments from the public. One couple congratulated the students for what they were doing; another person wondered what the students must have done to have to take part in such an activity.

The different responses raised the question; should cleaning up your neighbourhood or community be a punishment, or a duty that all community members should help out with and do their bit to keep the areas clean and safe? The students gave three hours of their time to the clean up activity and shared how positive they found the event. They talked about how they felt responsible for the community and wanted to protect their environment. They also talked about feeling a ‘community spirit’.

On Wednesday 10th July some NLS staff offered sessions to encourage the wider community to come to the school and try out something new. Community members were able to select from Family Badminton, Get By in German & Spanish, Zumba, Laser Cut Jewellery, Indian Cooking, Using your Digital SLR, Community Guitar, and Basic Computing. In the future, because it is ‘Community Everyone Learn’, if you have a skill or hobby that you would feel confident in delivering a session for, I’d love to hear from you. If you could offer an activity during an evening in Autumn please contact Mike Swan on 01926 338711 ext 8438 or mswan@northleamington.co.uk.

F1 in SchoolsA team of six students entered the F1 in Schools competition in March and did amazingly well – winning a trophy for the Best Engineered car at the regional event and another for Innovation at the finals at the NEC. Overall they came 4th out of around 150 entries and had the second fastest car.

F1 in Schools challenges students to create their own Formula One team which is commissioned to design, construct and race the fastest miniature Formula One Car of the Future; a 21cm long scale model machined using CAD/CAM from a block of balsa wood and powered by a compressed air cylinder. Each team of six students creates a ‘pit’ display and showcases their work in developing their race car with a verbal and written presentation for the judges. The teams then race their model cars on a 20 metre test track, where it reaches over 50mph.

The team members are already working on next year’s entry and they have plans to do even better!

Be Active or Learn Evening

GreenpowerGreenpower is the name of an education trust, the aim of which is to promote sustainable engineering to young people. It achieves this by encouraging the students to design and build a battery powered race car, which they use to compete with other schools at motor racing circuits around the country. All teams use the same motor and batteries so everything is down to the students’ engineering and driving abilities!

The picture shows the current state of construction. As you can see, the chassis is complete, the front wheels and steering are nearly ready and the rear axles are in progress. We expect to have the car running next term with a view to entering our first competition when the season starts in the spring.

Our Cheerleading team has grown this year to 36, with 18 Year 7s joining us in September. We now have 27 students in the ever

popular stunt team. After weekly training sessions for the Stunt and Pom Dance Teams we have performed in the Schools National Competition in Manchester, and the County Competition at Myton School, securing three first places and a second.

The Year 7s performed their Pom Dance to the visiting Year 5 students from various primary schools during the Arts Festival, they also led the procession and demonstrated their winning pom dance in a village carnival. New this year has been our Showcase to parents and friends, a fundraiser to subsidise our fantastic new hoodys, raising over £300.

Our coaching team of talented pupils continues to grow with pupils from Years 10 and 11 taking the lead. Our cheerleaders will be demonstrating their vocal and dance skills at the local Funday Sunday in July proving just what a credit to the school they are, so proud of you all!

Leam Gems

Year 7 & 8 PhotographyThe first Photography event aimed at Years 7 and 8 was a great success. Years 7 and 8 TAG students took part in a practical photography workshop that ran during lunchtimes. Students also had the chance to edit their images digitally via Photoshop. The hugely popular workshop will run again next year, this time aimed at Years 9 and 10 TAG students.

STEM Day9 TAG students in Year 8 attended a STEM day at Kineton High School on 2nd July. The day was part of a Central Warwickshire Gifted &Talented initiative to raise attainment in Year 8, focussing on identifying talented, able and gifted students.

The day looked at floating and sinking and the main project involved producing a model submarine using recyclable materials provided. The students were brilliantly behaved and came up with some very creative ideas! up with some very creative ideas!

Over the last term the TAG events have really taken off. We have had: Arts Awards, Theatre Trips, a family day out to the Thinktank Museum, and statistics master classes, to name but a few! A huge number of students have signed up to these events and have thoroughly enjoyed them.

One Year 9 student attended the enrichment day at Coventry University and commented: “That was one of the best days I have ever had! It was great.”Parents have also been thrilled at the events, with one Year 7 parent commenting: “Yet another example of an inspiring and meaningful educational opportunity offered by the staff/teachers at NLS to our children!”

Remember if you are on the TAG programme you can sign up to events through the Learning Zone on the website, or email TAG@northleamington.co.uk

Talented-Able-Gifted

Staff CPDNLS staff have been extremely busy this term. We have had all sorts of training including:Safeguarding, Outstanding Teaching, Independent Learning, Developing DIRT (Dedicated Improvement and Reflection Time), and much more. The MA cohort are just coming to the end of their first module so are busily working on their assignments, and we cant wait to see what their action research projects show. The CPD programme will be developed next year to help us on our journey to outstanding.

Warwick Uni VisitThe visit was about how to reduce energy consumption. The introduction was by Professor Phil Mawby (School of Engineering) who talked about the global demand for energy. Then we had a talk by Dr Stan who talked about the sun and the potential energy it could provide. Facts such as the surface of the sun is 5,500 0C and the earth receives 1373 Watts/m2.

After that we were taken for a walk around the central area of the University with Joel Cardinal to look at the energy saving technology installed including: solar heating, solar panels including a new development test bed. They use geothermal cameras to study heat loss from their buildings. It was an interesting afternoon and gave students an insight into university life.

Warwick Medical School VisitOn 24th June Hazeem Arif and Henry Rawnsley went to Warwick Medical School to learn about Digital Network Communication in Primary Care. On the first day, we learnt about Dichotomy, Likert, and different questions, e.g. open and closed.We made a survey for people at our school to answer. We used Survey Monkey to construct our survey. The questions were asking if people used social media to contact their doctors. Once our surveys were constructed we gave them out at school, and we waited for our responses. After a fortnight we went back on the 9th July and analysed our data and wrote a report on the computers about our data.

Overall the process was very much fun and we learnt a lot from it. We were given a certificate and we had a great experience as young researchers.

Written by Hazeem Arif 9L

You’re Hired!On 9th July, 160 Year 10 students were given a mock job interview by volunteers from local organisations. We were joined by representatives from Warwickshire College, Royal Sun Alliance, Warwick University, Rethink, HSBC, Losky Films, Connexions2 and Warwickshire County Council, plus a number of parent volunteers.

The students prepared CVs and applied for fictional jobs before being put through their paces at interview. The interviewers described NLS students as “inspirational”, “articulate” and “highly employable”.

This event is now firmly placed as one of the key activities in school to help increase our students Employability Skills. If you would like to assist with next year’s event please contact Emma Williamson at ewilliamson@northleamington.co.uk

Sports Day 2013 - Croft Victory!

Name Year ReasonKeris Jones 10 Awarded for excellent attitude in lessons and commitment to extra-curricular sport

Billy Pettipher 10 Awarded for commitment to extra-curricular sport and Duke of Edinburgh

Jade Haverty 9 Awarded for consistently good performance and commitment in lessons and extra-curricular sport

Adam Southorn 9 Awarded for regular commitment to extra-curricular activities

Lily Lambert 8 Awarded for excellent performance in a number of team sports and attitude in PE lessons

Harry Gillett 8 Awarded for consistent performances in a number of team sports and attitude in PE lessons

Ellie Aston 7 Awarded for excellence in lessons and commitment to extra-curricular sport

Ben Hawkes 7Awarded for outstanding commitment to PE and excellent performance in a number of extra-curricular sports

Congratulations to Croft who won Sports Day for the third time in four years - a tremendous achievement! A special mention goes to the Hawkes brothers (Ben in Year 7 and George in Year 9) who broke school records in helping Croft to victory.

College Year 7 Total Year 8 Total Year 9 Total Year 10 Total FINAL TOTAL POSITIONBinswood 156 167 168 126 217 4Blackdown 154 147 132 203 636 3

Croft 222 160 184 202 768 1Manor 122 143 156 89 510 5

Park 128 187 184 176 675 2

Sports Person of the Year 2013