Easter 2013

Got to Dance Extravaganza Pages 6 & 7

Easter 2013

The Magazine of Wade Deacon

High

Sch

ool.

A Release to Remember Page 4

Talented Pupils Top the Table Page 8

Pupils Break Record in D of E Awards Page 11

Capsule Captures Historic Moments in Time

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Insight. Easter 2013 © Wade Deacon High School. All Rights Reserved02

Foreword

Mrs P A Wright OBE, FRSA.Executive Headteacher

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03Insight. Easter 2013

Time Capsule Captures the Moments

There is a saying that ‘good things always come in threes’; and what a wonderful three years we have had together in partnership as staff, pupils, parents, governors and all others who combine to make Wade Deacon High School exceptional:

• a judgement of ‘outstanding in every aspect’ from Ofsted in 2011;

• the accolade of The Times Education Supplement National Secondary School of the Year in 2012;

• and now our imminent move into our new state - of - the - art school.

We are all very excited about embarking on this new era in our school’s long history – a story that began way back in 1507, making us the oldest Foundation School in the North West of England.

It is a history that we cherish and of which we are extremely proud. Our new school respects these traditional values; but wants to link the past, the present and the future in a modern learning environment that is innovative, dynamic and creative.

Our new buildings and facilities have spacious teaching and learning zones equipped with the latest digital technology, ensuring that all pupils receive the very best that 21st century education can offer.

A stunning all weather pitch, 6 badminton court size Sports’ Hall and cutting edge Science and Technology facilities provide just a flavour of the learning experience that our young people can expect.

This is a wonderful time for all in our school community. We look back to our roots with pride and look forward to the future with confidence and a determination to maintain the highest standards of achievement; encouraging all of our young people to be creative, enterprising and inspirational.

A ceremony to commemorate the placing of the Foundation Stone has taken place in the entrance foyer of our new school building at Birchfield Road.

A time capsule was also placed behind the stone that contains artefacts from the original Foundation Stone Ceremony in 1930, as well as documents relating to Wade Deacon High School in 2013. Copies of the Widnes Weekly News from 1930, coupled with the very latest edition form part of the time capsule, alongside copies of our school magazines which show how Wade Deacon has developed from its Grammar School origins to our current position as Times Education Outstanding Secondary School of the Year.

Mr Mealey, a former pupil of the school and one of our longest serving teachers was given the honour of securing the capsule. He told Insight: ‘It has been a privilege to be part of Wade Deacon High School for so many years. Hopefully our time capsule will enable future generations to see how far we have come and to chart our continued development.’

Wade Deacon High SchoolBirchfield Road

WidnesWA8 7TD

Tel: 0151 423 2721

Website: www.wadedeacon.co.uk

Week commencing 15th AprilFamiliarisation week - phasedentry programme to the new buildings

Monday 6th MaySchool Closed – May Day Holiday

Thursday 9th MayYear 7 Parents’ Evening

Monday 27th May – Friday 31st MaySchool Closed – Half Term Holiday

Wednesday 3rd – Friday 5th JulyCitizenship & Enterprise DaysYear 7 Colomendy Residential

Wednesday 10th JulyArts’ Evening

Monday 15th JulyFoundation Awards Ceremony

Saturday 20th JulyGifted & Talented Masterclass

Thursday 25th July School Closed - Summer Holiday

Generous outdoor learning spaces will allow the curriculum to break out of the classroom.

Finishing touches are now being made to our £26 million new buildings on Birchfield Road. After the Easter break, all pupils will move into these exciting state - of - the - art facilities behind the historic façade.

State - of - the - Art: a Science Zone for the Future.

Pupils, nominated by their Progress Leaders, helped Mr Mealey to create our Time Capsule.

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05Insight. Easter 2013

A Release to RememberDuring December’s Citizenship & Enterprise Day, our Year 10 pupils took part in a balloon release to support The Brightest Star Appeal in memory of Lewis Millward. Pupils contributed £1 for the balloons which were name tagged and released into a spectacularly blue winter sky.

The balloon that travelled furthest would be deemed the winner with prizes for the winning pupil donated by local businesses Anthony’s Travel and Quality Services.

Each balloon also had a Marks and Spencer voucher attached with many being returned to us from across the world.

Responses from residents in Coventry, Milton Keynes, Northampton and Bedfordshire gave pupils an idea of the scale of the balloons’ journey. However, it was the balloon that made its way to Dijon in France that top trumped all others!

Chyna Gibbins whose name was on the Dijon balloon was thrilled to take part and help to support such a worthwhile cause.

She said ‘The release of the balloons was spectacular and very moving. We raised £400.00 which we hope will help to establish music projects as part of Lewis’ Foundation which will benefit so many young people in Halton’.

Pupils Fall in Love with the

A group of 66 Year 11 pupils enjoyed all the “Joie de Vivre” that Paris has to offer on a 4 day visit during February half-term.

As well as a host of opportunities to practise their French, our pupils also had the chance to visit many of Paris’ famous sites including day trips to Notre Dame, the Champs Elysees and the Sacré Coeur as well as a spectacular evening trip to The Eiffel Tower . The day was finished off with snail tasting in the French bistro “Chez Gigi” where some even asked for seconds!!!!!

A visit to Paris would not have been complete without a trip to Euro Disney where pupils enjoyed all the magic that Disney has to offer, even taking part in the parade! Trip Leader, Miss Whitfield told Insight: ‘giving pupils the opportunity to speak French in Paris is an experience in itself and this gives them confidence to know that they can communicate very effectively. This, combined with many trips and cultural activities, really made this an event to remember for everyone.’

City of Lights

Ready to go: Year 10 pupils prepare for their spectacular balloon release.

On our way: Tom, Chris, Daniel and Matthew.

Abbie, Amy, Danielle and Paigecruising the River Seine.

Pupils at the entrance to Euro Disney - all wrapped up and raring to go.

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07Insight. Easter 2013

One of the most amazing dance performances ever seen at Wade Deacon High School took place in February, thrilling audiences in a week long extravaganza.

Got to Dance 2013 involved a staggering 200 pupils, as well as 40 pupils from Moorfield and Farnworth Primary Schools - all of whom worked tirelessly to perfect their routines over many months. Now in its third year, the event has gone from strength to strength with pupils achieving staggering outcomes in both dance and chorography – testimony to their hard work and the commitment of their dance teachers and coaches.

Performing as individuals, pairs and in groups, pupils thrilled in a range of dance genres including: tap, modern, contemporary, ballet, street, musical theatre and jazz which had a packed Bridge Theatre completely mesmerised.

Elin Peters from Year 9 was clearly delighted to be part of the event. She told Insight ‘This has been a fantastic experience for all of us and we’ve had such a great time to-gether taking part. To dance before paying audiences has been a great experience and people have said that our show was as good as anything they have seen on a profes-sional stage. That is the kind of feedback that lets us know that it was a job well done.’

Audiences Mesmerised in Got to Dance Spectacular

Megan: Contemporary Solo

End of Time

Matthew: Modern TapSchool’s Out

Abbi: Ballet solo

Honey

Finale

All Around the World

Over the past two terms, Mrs Wei Gan, Wade Deacon’s Mandarin Chinese Assistant, has been working in Farnworth, Simms Cross, Lunts Heath and Moorfield Primary Schools, as well as St Bede’s Junior School, introducing the pupils to the Chinese language and culture. As well as learning basic Chinese vocabulary, pupils have also made Chinese lanterns and practised calligraphy to produce Chinese characters. For the Reception pupils in Simms Cross, Mrs Wei Gan prepared and performed a shadow play telling the story of how the Chinese arrived at the names of the years. This is part of the outreach work that we undertake given that we are one of only 20 schools in the country with a Confucius Classroom. Funded by the Chinese Education Ministry, the classrooms promote the teaching of Mandarin and Chinese culture. The Confucius Classroom represents one strand of our continued commitment to developing and enhancing our international links.

This term we have had a number of delegations visiting Wade Deacon from all over the world including South Korea, Turkey Spain and Sicily, all of which will be reviewed in our summer edition. We will also review an exciting visit to Japan for 12 of our lucky pupils that will take place over Easter.

Inge Goldrein, a survivor of the Kindetransport.

Pupils Respect and Remember

Historians Get ‘The London Look’

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09Insight. Easter 2013

You will recall from our Christmas edition that Year 9 pupils Bethany Darcy and Katherine Hickey won a Halton competition focussing on community firework safety. Here they are finishing off the job by presenting their prize money to Ian Foxcroft from Widnes Fire Service. The girls, with the rest of their Tutor Group, have been invited down to Widnes Fire Station for a full tour as well as some fire drill practice!

Support for Firefighter VeteransPrimaries Join our

Chinese Culture Club!

Talented Pupils Top the Table

Year 9 students have taken part in a day of activities aimed at increasing understanding of Jewish culture and of the Holocaust.Pupils attended an emotional talk by Eric Cohen recounting his family’s struggle through Nazi oppression, showing artefacts including

candlesticks that had been used in a fight against Nazi soldiers.

Inge Goldrein, a survivor of the Kindetransport talked about her traumatic experiences travelling as a child to an unknown country which was captivating and thought – provoking.

Year 9 pupil Jordan – Louise Fulton said of the day: ‘To learn about events like this in class is one thing, but hearing it from people who were actually there is different altogether. It’s important that we listen to the experiences of people like Inge so that we can learn lessons for the future.’

February half term could not come quickly enough for 33 of our History pupils as they took in the sights and sounds of our vibrant and exciting capital city. Guided tours to The Tower of London, The Cabinet War Rooms, Parliament and The Natural History Museum gave pupils the opportunity to see history in the place that it was made!

Pupils were left awe- inspired by The Crown Jewels housed in The Tower of London and fascinated by the historical regalia of the Beefeaters who guard them. Accounts of famous beheadings, as well as activities focussing on The Wars of the Roses kept everyone entertained for hours.

A stop at Parliament revealed some definite candidates for the politicians of the future!

A trip to The Natural History Museum on the final day was followed by shopping….. at Harrods – of course!!

Budding Historian Cameron Molyneux was clearly in his el-ement on the trip saying ‘I love History – especially the 2nd World War so to be in the place where Churchill made his battle plans was just a bit special.’

It has been an awesome term for our PE Faculty with many achievements to celebrate. Our successes in Table Tennis have been numerous with Craig Hansbury secur-ing the Cheshire U16s Champion’s Trophy at The Stobart Stadium in January – despite only being in Year 9! Well done to him.

Our under 13 girls’ team have really hit the heights with their triumph in The North of England Championships in Blackburn. To be crowned North of England Champions is something very special and is a first for any Halton team so it is a huge well done to Robyn Cosgrove, Alex Bow-man, Amy Redman, and Lauren McEvoy.

The girls will now compete in the National Finals in Leicester. We all wish them well. Who knows how far they can go….Rio?

Mrs Wei Gan demonstrating Chinese calligraphy.

Chinese lanterns lit up Farnworth C of E.

Mum! Here’s something for the fridge!

Bethany and Katherine with Firefighter Ian Foxcroft.

North of England Champs: Amy, Lauren, Alex & Robyn.

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11Insight. Easter 2013Wade Deacon High School

A record breaking 58 Wade Deacon High School pupils – more than any other school in the area, have

achieved success this year in The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. Their achievements were recognised in January at a formal ceremony held at The Brindley Arts’ Centre as pupils received their certificates and prized badges from The Mayor of Halton, Cllr Tom McInerney. Pupils were praised for their outstanding commitment to their community and heralded as ‘truly model citizens.’

The award recognises over 12 months of commitment and dedication, covering a range of disciplines and

activities from community volunteering through to supporting after school clubs in the borough’s primary schools.

At the awards ceremony, Cllr McInerney highlighted the huge academic and social benefits of the award

and commended our pupils as ‘some of the best in the world.’

It was a great night all round for Wade Deacon – not only in the recognition of our pupils’ achievements, but

also in terms of the entertainment provided for the 240 guests in attendance who were treated to a spectacular performance from our Year 10 BTec Dance Group.

Our D of E programme is now the benchmark by which all other schools measure themselves. Under the

guidance of Mr Burns and his team, we are now a fully licenced D of E Centre which has many residual benefits for our pupils, allowing us to develop the programme for a wider pupil base. A further 90 pupils will have the opportunity to embark on the scheme this year.

Records Broken in D of E Awards

Pupils in a Master Class of their Own!A varied programme of extension activities formed the basis of our Saturday Masterclass held this term. Pupils across all years in school, plus our primary school pupils, forwent their precious lies in to delve a little deeper into the world of learning.

The enduring fascination of JFK’s assassination allowed our History students to investigate the many theories that surround this mementous event leading to presentations as to which theory had the most integrity. Ellie Greaves loved the idea of conspiracy which has really inspired her to get interested in politics! Our Year 8 Geography pupils went all green for their fieldwork day in Southport with time spent at its Eco Centre, as well as focussing on tourist profiles and taking in the sights!

Maths and ICT combined to focus Year 7 pupils on body image and how photoshop is used in the real world. Pupils learned how to remove red eye from photographs as well as wrinkles in order to make celebrities look absolutely perfect!

Our Year 7 scientists conducted a range of Brainiac activities: making flubber, proving that custard can become solid and using chemical reactions to make rockets! Lotions, Potions and Spells were the themes in the Year 6 Science Lab inspired by Mrs Wilde’s and Dr Jackson’s Harry Potter garb. Where else could pupils learn to practise their fire writing using a dragon’s breath, construct air bombs or turn pennies into silver and back to gold!!

Pupils from Farnworth also enjoyed the thrill of the race track with Widnes RC Club; stripping the engines down and ultimately racing them. One of our Community Volunteers, Keith Naughton was really impressed by the knowledge and enthusiasm shown by all of the Farnworth Pit Crew!

English and MFL worked collaboratively with the help of two fifth year medical students from Liverpool University who showed pupils how to perform CPR which was then transformed into an exciting news broadcast in both English and French!

In Maths it was coefficient restitution that got the juices flowing – yes it really did! Pupils also took part in activities linked to speed, distance and time. Stadiums where built out of Lego, assessing the costs involved and making profit and loss calculations.

Our Comedy Masterclasses remain as popular and hilarious as ever with the focus this time on improvised humour along the lines of ‘Who’s Line is it Anyway’. Pupils ( and staff ) were encouraged to think on the spot, whilst keeping things relevant and, of course, entertaining: Hilarious!

Miss Lewis who coordinates our Saturday Masterclasses was delighted with the way the pupils responded: ‘Saturday Mornings are now an established feature of our school calendar. We are always impressed with the pupils’ willingness and try something new that hopefully will inspire them in their everyday work in school and in the future.’

English and MFL worked on an E R style TV broadcast.

Mr Boyle worked with Year 7 using Photoshop software.

Elliot and Lucy

Evie, Lucy and Rebecca

More pupils than ever have passed their D of E Award this year.Moorfield Primary pupils writing with fire.

Pupils ‘Make the Change’

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Year 8 pupil John Paul Wilson is celebrating after becoming Kickboxing World Champion in the 42kg division.

JP now holds a string of titles including British, European and World Championships – all unbelievable achievements given that he only took up the sport as a 10 year old.

JP trains 4 nights a week with The Liverpool Kickboxing Association and with the England squad every month – testimony to his dedication and commitment which sees him travelling all over the world to compete.

We hope that JP’s successes continue and that he will be a regular feature on our TV screens in the years to come. He is a pupil for whom the school is extremely proud.

This term our PE Faculty has been heavily involved with Sky Sports as part of their Change Your Game: Living for Sport Initiative.

As part of the programme, 18 pupils from Years 7 – 9 have had the opportunity to work in a range of sporting disciplines with professional coaches and Athlete Mentors who are currently, or have been, leaders in their sporting fields.

Pupils have worked closely with Jenna Downing, an Inline Skating World Champion and also Neil Danns, an ex-skateboarding champion who also presented an assembly to all Year 9 pupils about how committing to sport has changed his life.

The programme has involved targeted coaching sessions with lots of opportunities for pupils to practise their skills in sports that are both new and exciting.

Additionally the programme has enabled our pupils to get out into the local community – working with local coaches to try a range of sports whilst at the same time using their experiences to inspire other pupils to get involved too. Sports have included table tennis, volleyball, boxing, basketball and street dance.

Part of the development will be for our pupils to go out into the local primary schools’ in order to engage much younger pupils to have a go themselves.

Mrs Locker, our link teacher for the programme, has seen the benefits of the programme. She said, ‘We chose a range of pupils for whom sport might not have been their main interest. Now we see these pupils enjoying sport and passing on their experiences and skills to their peers and to our younger children which has been great to see.’

World Champ JP Kicks the Right Box!

Top of the world: John Paul.

Get your skates on: Pupils with world champion Jenna Downing .